The film ‘The Martin” is doing great at the box office. My wife and I really enjoyed it (we both liked the book as well). Marvelous story-telling and a beautiful rendering of a wondrous new world.

I agree, though, with this op-ed: The Martian: Please Don’t Bring Him Home – Greg Autry/Huffington Post. It’s extremely unlikely that humans will go to Mars on Apollo style NASA missions of short duration and stupendous cost. The only way to make Mars trips affordable is with heavy involvement of commercial companies. And people will go to the Red Planet to settle it, not just for quick science excursions.

Here are links to a variety of other items  about the movie:

* More on the space policy and politics of the movie: Our view: The politics of “The Martian” – Roanoke Times: Editorials

* The Game of Thrones author George RR Martin writes about growing up on Mars (vicariously): George RR Martin: our long obsession with Mars – The Guardian.

* The music of the film: Ridley Scott’s ‘The Martian’ Makes Disco the New Soundtrack of Space – The Atlantic

* Views of the region on Mars where the action takes place:

• Andy Weir’s ‘The Martian’ Map
• NASA Orbiter Views Sites of Fiction Film’s Mars Landings – NASA JPL
• HiRISE and ‘The Martian’
• MarsTrek at NASA (Mars mapping app)
  • You Can Now Plot THE MARTIAN’s Trek with NASA’s Help – Nerdist

* Some items about the science and engineering in the film:

• Here’s the real science behind ‘The Martian’ – MarketWatch
• Just how scientifically accurate is The Martian, anyway? Let’s find out · Great Job, Internet! · The A.V. Club
• What happened when a roomful of engineers watched ‘The Martian’ – Public Radio International

* Some reviews you might have missed:

• My Review of the Movie “The Martian” – Dennis Wingo
• The Martian Stands Alone – The Georgetown Voice
• At Last, the Great Martian Movie: More than a century after the first Mars movie, we finally have a really good one – IEEE Spectrum – Sept.30.15

* The trailer is still fun to watch: