Mars Mini-Series Coming to TV this Spring
Robert Zubrin Is Cameron's Co-Writer on New Mars IMAX Film

James Cameron is a self-confessed "Mars wacko." This year, he'll produce a
TV miniseries and an IMAX film, both depicting the first small steps
humankind takes on Mars.

Two years ago, at the second annual International Mars Society conference,
Cameron, a Mars Society member, called the journey to other planets "the
greatest dream" of his own boyhood science fantasies. To help that dream
come true as soon as possible, he vowed to dedicate his production company,
Lightstorm Productions, to showing a mission to Mars as "a fantasy (the
viewing public) can achieve not some day, but soon -- in the tangible near
future of years rather than decades."

Cameron's two upcoming Mars projects are part of that goal. The first, a
five-hour miniseries, may be the adaptation of Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars
Trilogy" -- Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars -- that fans have looked forward
to since Cameron picked up the rights to the books early last year, but the
director seemed to indicate that it will actually be an entirely separate
project.

Set in 2012, both projects will chronicle the first mission to Mars using
the Mars Direct plan (a cheap, cut-rate mission option pioneered by Dr.
Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society.)

"The miniseries is gonna be written by me and Al Reinert, who was the
co-writer of 'Apollo 13,' and it's gonna be directed by Martha Coolidge and
I'm producing it," said Cameron.

However, he will direct the IMAX 3-D film himself, co-writing the screenplay
with Robert Zubrin and veteran IMAX producer Gary Goddard, who worked with
Cameron on the 3-D Terminator film "T2: Battle Across Time." He will also
co-write a novel based on the same material with Charles Pellegrino, noted
author of nonfiction books about the space program and other voyages of
discovery.

The two projects will share the same sets, actors and props -- essentially
covering the same story from different angles. The story will encompass
several years, from before the mission to the 6-month voyage to Mars, to
over 500 days on the surface of Mars, and then the return to Earth.

"When we sent men to the moon, it changed them forever," said Cameron, "but
sometimes those changes took years to manifest. Well, the Mars crew will be
away from Earth for years, and we'll get to see those changes take place.
And we'll see the changes in their friends and families on Earth as well."

Every aspect of his mission will be as accurate as it can possibly be.
Cameron studied the NASA DRM (Design Reference Mission) through and through,
but in many cases wasn't satisfied with the level of detail that NASA was
able to give him. So he designed his own Long-distance Mars Rover, Surface
habitats, and other aspects of the mission. And these are GOOD designs --
the rover in particular is probably the most detailed design for a Mars
rover which has ever been produced, and hardened Aerospace Engineers were
gasping at some of its more ingenious features.

Cameron teased his Mars-hungry audience with numerous design sketches of the
vehicles that the films will bring to life.

"Two uncrewed vehicles -- a cargo lander and an Earth-return vehicle (ERV)
-- being sent to Mars in 2012. And a crewed lander being sent in 2014. The
ERV consisted of fuel trans-Earth injection stage at a return hab. And an
aero-captures(?) into Mars orbit. The cargo lander comes down with an
unfueled ascent stage. It deploys a tiny mobile nuclear reaction -- a
putt-putt nuke -- and starts making methane and oxygen out of Martian
atmosphere and C02. This is all pretty familiar stuff."

As to the plot connecting the two projects, Cameron said "actually it is a
love story, but it's not 'Titanic.' You know, the passion that I want the
audience to understand is the force that drives smart, sane people out into
the void for years at a time, risking their health, maybe even their lives,
on a quest which is at once scientific and spiritual."

Both films are scheduled for release this year.

Sources: Space.com, MarsNews.com, Boston.com/A&E