Passage to Mars Page #5

John has the experience of long

snowmobile treks in Antarctica.

Godspeed.

- Drive safely.

- Oh, yeah.

Come back in one piece.

It's a gamble.

Splitting up is never good.

Especially if the team

is already small.

9:
00 p.m.

John and Jesse

have reached the island.

We try to remain

in contact via sat phone.

There's been an accident.

It's John.

Riding through heavy snowfall

with poor visibility

he plunged over a precipice.

Jesse informs me that John's

left leg is badly bruised.

He's in agonizing pain.

Damn it.

We're stranded in the usual

middle of nowhere.

I can't believe

this is happening.

The crew's split up,

food's running low.

Maybe we've gone

one step too far.

Jean-Christophe shared

his concerns with me.

He feels that we're now

walking a very fine line.

Everything could go wrong

very quickly.

He's damn right.

He also said

my decision reminded him

of Shackleton's in Antarctica

a century ago.

When his ship, the Endurance

got locked in ice

and sank, he split up his crew

and went for help

with a small party.

After an impossible journey,

he returned as promised

and saved them all.

One of the greatest feats

in exploration history.

I'm no Shackleton,

but he inspired us all.

Mars will also have its heroes.

11:
00 p.m.

We are not alone.

Alien life in an alien world.

Joe thinks he's been

circling us for two days.

To this awe-inspiring

creature, we are dinner.

Thankfully, we are not

as appetizing as we think.

Somehow, this beautiful

ghostly encounter

brings us luck.

After three days, this is

the most wonderful sight.

John and Jesse have

successfully retrieved

the critical geared hub

from the Mars-1.

We greet them as heroes.

They truly are.

We got a good route

in the land there.

- Jesse, you made it.

- Yeah, I made it.

Jesse shows us

a picture he took of camp

with the Mars-1.

On Mars, we'll definitely need

not just one, but two rovers.

One to rescue the other.

Hello, Pascal,

could you take the nut off

the back of that ball joint

behind you on the cooler?

This time, we must continue

at a walking pace.

Spare parts

are out of the question.

We're almost out of fuel.

Soon we'll be tapping

into our survival rations.

Just, just follow the track.

Okay, repeat that, John?

Just follow the track.

You want... you want us

to stay with the track?

We'll do the right track.

Obstruction on your left.

John and Jean-Christophe

decided to walk

in front of the rover

as short-range scouts

to locate buried obstacles.

There are many, too many.

The Arctic's grip continues

to close in on us.

It feels as if we're being

played with.

The closer we get to shore, the

more out of reach it seems.

We get stuck in snow,

again and again.

Devon Island, I love you.

Land sweet land.

Alright.

At 11:
30 p.m. on 16 May

more than a year after first

launching from Kugluktuk

we've finally reached

the shore of Devon Island.

And Mark who's filming.

Hi, Mark.

This is a bottle of Dom Perignon

from Reims, France.

- Well..

- Here we are on Devon.

To the Northwest Passage.

- The finest crystal.

- Si, si.

- John.

- Cheers.

Here

So far away

Another time

Another place

The HMP Okarian has landed.

Edgar Rice Burroughs

wrote of the Yellow Martians

who escaped drought and war

to reach the planet's far north.

They were survivors

knights of the ice

and explorers.

They were called the Okarians.

Stand by, flight.

Going to Mars

is the exploration challenge

of our time.

We should not fear it

or postpone it

but embrace it

and make it succeed.

It will bring humanity together

and strengthen our character.

As I age, my dream of going

to Mars is slowly fading.

I may not make it.

But I have a new dream.

I wanna pass the torch to you

the next generation.

We dedicate

our polar adventure to you

who will live and witness

the journey to Mars.

Make us feel the pride

of being explorers again

and make humanity

a more peaceful

and promising species.

"Houston

we got a, uh, if you give us

through data, we got some.."

"The surface of Mars!"

Will you find life?

What kind of life will it be?

If it's a completely alien life

with its own DNA

that might tell us

there's a possibility

of life throughout the universe.

Saa, your video.

Earth will be up

in five minutes.

What if you find

that life on Mars

is similar to life on Earth?

Maybe life started on Mars

and came to seed the Earth.

We might all be

children of Mars.

Maybe all this time

the tantalizing call of Mars

has been a call to return home.

This is the final entry

in our expedition log.

Tonight, the children

of the Okarian

will be sleeping

at Mars-On-Earth

dreaming under the stars

of the day

you will be looking back

at the Earth

from the quiet rim

of Olympus Mons.

I'm Pascal Lee.

Signing off.

Apollo 11, Houston, we're

a go for undocking, over.

On the moon

I have seen

magnificent desolation.

Now humans are reaching

for this new world

this time, to stay

and then venture further

into space.

Before us now

is a giant leap

to Mars and beyond.

Imagine

The world

In a moment

Truth and the unseen

Time in a dream

Reach out

Breathe in

I'm ready to believe again

Hold on

Let go

Find a way

Home

Home

The daylight

Is falling

Beyond the last horizon

A passage you know

All across an endless sea

Reach out

Breathe in

I'm ready to believe again

Hold on

Let go

Find your way

Way back home Home

Way back home Home

Said you're gonna reach out

And you're gonna hold on

Find a way

Leading home

Said I'm gonna reach out

And then you're

gonna hold on

Find a way

Way back home

Reach out

Breathe in

You ready to believe again?

Alright

Hold on

Let go

I know you'll find it

I said yeah

Said I'm gonna be strong

Said I'm gonna hold on

For you

For you and for me

Hold on Faith

Let go

A little bit of love

"Before the cylinder fell,

there was a general persuasion

"that through all

the deep of space

"no life existed beyond

the petty surface

"of our minute sphere.

"Now we see further.

"Dim and wonderful is the

vision I have conjured up

"in my mind of life spreading

"throughout the inanimate

vastnesses of sidereal space.

Remote dream. It may be."

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