When author Andy Weir started uploading chapters of what would become The Martian on his blog, he had no idea what the future held for him. Sure, he had a good idea about the future of NASA as it relates to Mars. After all, before writing the fictional account of American astronaut Mark Watney’s struggle to survive after being stranded on Mars in 2035, the self-proclaimed “space nerd” spent years researching real protocols, procedures, and technologies that might be employed by NASA when humans reach Mars.
And he also got a lot of help from online strangers, who helped him with his lack of chemistry knowledge. Along the journey from the online blog to the drafts of the free online book, to the $.99 Amazon ebook, thousands of people emailed Weir with scientific advice and other thoughts. All of those suggestions helped Weir create an exciting tale that took off on Amazon, and then got the attention of Random House and Hollywood.
Weir was able to sign both a hardcover book deal and a film deal in the same week. And all of this for only his second book ever, and the first that he published under his own name.
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Related: Interview | Drew Goddard on ‘The Martian’ and ‘Cabin in the Woods 2’
Things have only gotten better since then, thanks to Ridley Scott’s film adaptation starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, and Jeff Daniels rocketing past $226 million in domestic box office and over $595 million globally. And the scientific community came out in support of the Hollywood adaptation of the bestselling book, thanks to all of the research that went into the original novel.
With The Martian coming to 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on January 12 from Fox Home Entertainment, Weir’s universe is getting its own 30-minute virtual reality experience. Fox debuted The Martian VR Experience at CES 2016, which is playable on Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, and will also work on Sony’s PlayStation VR.
Since none of these devices are out yet, fans will have to wait some time before stepping into the space boots of Mark Watney in an expanded storyline directed by Robert Stromberg (Maleficent). The non-interactive teaser trailer for The Martian Experience was one of the top five most downloaded VR experiences of 2015 for Samsung Gear. And now that journalists have tried the full interactive experience, which spans seven sequences from the movie, the critical craze continues to pour in for everything associated with The Martian.
The man behind this Martian success story talks about his own experience with the project, and explains what’s next, in this exclusive interview.
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Crave: Why is Mars important for NASA?
Andy Weir: Mars has captured the public’s imagination and interest. NASA has had a long-standing goal to put a human on Mars. Now with the renewed interest, they will get more funding toward that goal.
What did you find surprising when researching for this book when it comes to how big a feat traveling to Mars actually is?
The sheer sense of scale is incredible. Imagine if you scaled down the solar system such that the Earth and the Moon were just one centimetre apart. At that scale, Mars would be about 100 meters away.
What impact do you feel your book and film have had on generating mainstream awareness about deep space travel?
I think there’s virtuous cycle going on right now with space interest. People are responding well to realistic sci-fi movies, which drives Hollywood to make more of them, which increases interest in realistic sci-fi movies. The knock-on effects for the space industry are fantastic.
What role have consumer technological advances played in allowing NASA to set its sites on Mars in the 2030s?
By far the biggest advances have been made by SpaceX. They’re the first company to truly treat space travel as a capitalist, competitive industry. They’ve driven costs down across the board. Not just for their own launches, but for every other company’s launches too, because they don’t want to get priced out of the market. It’s a wonderful thing for space travel. Once that price point gets low enough for middle-class westerners to afford space travel, there’ll be a “space boom.” It’ll be a huge new industry like the airline industry of the mid 20th century.
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What role have you seen virtual reality play with NASA as it develops its deep space program?
It’s critical for training astronauts. I spent time at NASA’s VR lab and did some simulations. It’s an incredible tool.
What are your thoughts on your book evolving from written word to movie and now virtual reality experience?
It’s very exciting. When I wrote it, I had no idea it would get so popular. I thought I was making a story for a small, niche audience of nerds.
What role do the Blu-ray extras play in letting people learn more about the reality of Mars and deep space exploration?
I don’t know. I haven’t seen the extras yet. I’m really looking forward to it.
What was it like working with Ridley Scott, who has always liked to blend real science with sci-fi?
I didn’t work with him too much. Mostly my job on the film was to cash the check. Though he did send me the occasional technical question. That was cool, to have someone of his stature emailing me questions.
What’s your take on any liberties taken for the sake of the Hollywood adaptation?
A few. They changed the ending a bit (who gets Mark, and the Iron Man thing). But they’re really small changes overall. I’m thrilled with how faithful the adaptation is.
Given they’ve discovered water on Mars. What’s your take on Martian life?
I strongly suspect there’s no native life on Mars. Thing is, once there’s life somewhere, it gets everywhere. If you were an alien, and you grabbed up one liter of Earth, from anywhere on the planet, you’d find it riddled with life. Even if you just grabbed some air from the atmosphere, or water from the ocean, or ice from Antarctica. No matter where you pick it from, there’d be countless one-celled organisms doing their thing.
On Mars, so far, we have found nothing. Nothing at all. If there were life anywhere on Mars, over the last four and a half billion years, it would have evolved and spread all over the planet and it would be immediately obvious. Even if it were monocellular.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on my next book now. It’s about a city on the Moon. It’s another hard sci-fi novel where everything is accurate to real-world physics. I hope to have it out by mid 2017.
