Why are the series rushing to go to Mars?

Hilary Swank plays astronaut Emma Green in the "Away" series.

-

• Netflix is ​​releasing this Friday Away, a series in which Hillary Swank goes on a mission to the planet Mars.

• From Hulu to Apple TV + via Disney +, the platforms have or are developing series with the theme of space conquest.

• Why such a craze among fiction producers?

  Analysis by Jacques Arnould, ethics expert at the Center National d'Etudes Spatiales.

Streaming platforms have their heads in the stars!

In 2018,

on Hulu imagined Sean Penn as the first man to set foot on Mars.

In 2019,

on Apple TV + rewrote an inspiring version of the story of conquering the moon.

soon on Disney +, will review the exploits of the astronauts of the Mercury space program.

JJ Abrams is preparing for HBO,

, which will follow the installation of settlers on a new planet.

Netflix is ​​not left out, after

in 2019, which follows a team of astronauts on a mission to discover the origins of a mysterious alien artifact, the Los Gatos platform has decided to ship the actress this Friday. Oscar winner Hilary Swank on Mars in

.

Why does the conquest of space still fascinate fiction so much?

A very ancient fascination with the sky

Man has always been fascinated by the cosmos.

“There are extremely deep roots at the historical and psychological level which make space a place of projection,” recalls Jacques Arnould, ethics expert at the Center National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES).

For a long time, the sky was forbidden to humans because it was the "dwelling place of gods and perfection".

But that all changed when we started to think “towards the end of the 17th century, that maybe one day we could go to heaven.

"

Fiction on the subject began to develop "in literature first", with Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac and his

, "then cinema" with

Méliès

'

.

“What do we have as a nicer screen to project ourselves than the sky?

», Underlines the specialist.

And to add: “The entire space adventure in which we have been immersed for sixty years has been prepared and accompanied by works of fiction in which man can project his imagination, his fears, his hopes and all that constitutes 'human.

"

A science fiction closer and closer to reality

"For fiction to take root, the imagination must be based on a minimum of plausible things", estimates the researcher.

Sending a manned mission to Mars, like in the

series

, has long been a part of space agency plans.

“Going to Mars is still fiction, but perhaps not for a long time,” underlines the ethics expert from CNES.

Fiction even has to hurry because maybe tomorrow reality will join or overtake it.

"

If the producers of series are interested in space exploration, it is because “we are in a period when many doors seem to be opening… Space agencies are talking about returning to the Moon, going to Mars, even further, ”explains Jacques Arnould.

A revival of activity in the space adventure

Why this renewed interest today?

"There is a game between fiction and space adventure, one fueling the other," considers Jacques Arnould.

This current interest in space shows that we are at a new stage in the concrete space adventure.

"

The space adventure is currently experiencing a resurgence of interest with new players with the appearance of new players in the sector: those of "New Space" such as SpaceX by Elon Musk or Blue Origin by Jeff Bezos "but also new states. alongside older space agencies like NASA, the Russian, European or Japanese space agency ”.

"There is a resurgence of activity and the enthusiasm for the sympathetic Thomas Pesquet is an illustration of this", comments the researcher.

A fiction mirror of our human reality

"The sky serves as a projection screen, a mirror for our wildest dreams like leaving Earth, exploring unknown worlds, but also our human reality", analyzes Jacques Arnould.

In

American astronaut Emma Green (Hilary Swank) takes command of the first manned mission to Mars.

“We are not yet able to land a machine of more than one ton on Mars, and a manned mission is several tens of tons, but that does not mean that we will not be able to do it tomorrow!

», Comments the CNES expert.

This assignment forces her to leave behind her husband (Josh Charles) and daughter (Talitha Bateman) for three long years.

“A three-year mission, that's quite correct, it holds up!

», Specifies the CNES expert.

How far can one go in the sacrifice to accomplish the project of his life?

This dilemma, which arises in an extreme way in the case of this astronaut, which resonates with anyone wondering about the balance between his professional and private life.

“Space ultimately serves as a mirror in relation to things common to all humanity.

It's nicer to stage it with a spatial setting, but basically the questions are the same, ”summarizes the researcher.

A fiction that feeds scientists' thinking

"It is interesting that people who are not necessarily space specialists can address the psychological difficulties that these people are going to encounter", judges Jacques Arnould.

On the psychological aspect of such a mission, “we only have hypotheses,” he sums up.

Thomas Pesquet spent six months aboard the ISS, but going to three years is not the same thing, ”says the expert, referring to Mars500, a Russian experimental program simulating the conditions encountered by a crew on Earth. during a 500-day mission to Mars.

And to also remember that the closer we get to Mars, the longer the transmissions become: “It takes twenty minutes for a message sent to Mars to arrive on Earth.

How do we experience emotional and family relationships when the distance occurs in space and time?

He asks himself.

A fiction that asks ethical questions

Going to Mars or further afield involves “going from a neighborhood where we see the Earth to a distance such that the Earth becomes the head of a needle.

Is the human being ready for this?

“The idea of ​​being sent to represent humanity is an extremely strong symbolic weight,” adds Jacques Arnould.

These works of fiction also allow the public to reflect on ethical questions.

Should we go to Mars or explore the far reaches of the universe and at what cost?

"This is the ethical question par excellence, At what price and in every sense of the word?

The human, financial and technological price, ”he lists.

This question "never resolves completely" and "has no definitive answer".

Why do we keep going into space when life on Earth needs our full attention?

“Mars or the Moon are extraordinary destinations.

But the question is not to have a destination, but a goal.

What are we going to do there?

Reaching a destination without knowing what to do there, whatever the price, it will always be exorbitant, ”warns the ethics expert from CNES.

If we are not yet quite technologically ready on the side of space agencies or New Space to send humans to Mars or to the outer reaches of the universe, "it is not certain that we are socially or culturally ready. to do it ",

"We are not technologically ready but also it is not sure that we are socially or culturally ready to do it?

“Asks Jacques Arnould.

Preparing ourselves culturally for these journeys to the borders of infinity, such is perhaps the essential role of these fictions.

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