In perhaps the coolest, nerdiest spot of interstellar marketing, the front page of The Martian‘s script made its way onto a NASA spacecraft earlier this month. Per Empire, the title page from Drew Goddard’s screenplay was included in a capsule for the maiden trek of NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). The mission, which took off on December 5th, saw the craft shoot up 5600 miles above Earth for its four-and-a-half hour journey.
The film’s executive producer, Aditya Sood, revealed why exactly the page was involved:
“NASA really rolled out the red carpet for us. In the capsule they had some personal objects that were important to people involved in the Orion project and one of the things was Ridley’s drawing on the cover page of The Martian script. This is a movie about people who are really passionate about science and space-travel, so that was a really great moment for us.”
As mentioned by Sood, a preliminary spot of artwork by director Ridley Scott graces the title sheet. The pen drawing depicts Matt Damon’s astronaut, Mark Watney, on the red planet with a speech bubble quote that reads: “I’m gonna science the shit out of this planet.”
For those who have yet to read Andy Weir’s novel on which the film is based, this type of banter is typical of the martian, Watney. A smart-talkin’ botanist with extensive scientific knowledge, he uses his humour to deal with his extraordinary situation. When the astronaut is left stranded on Mars by his crew following a horrendous a dust storm, he must do whatever it takes to survive until the next mission to the planet. In four years.
Currently in production, The Martian also stars Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan and Michael Pena. It is due to arrive in theaters on November 25th, 2015.
