Scripted series · National Geographic
Mars
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
Jihae
Hana Seung / Joon Seung
12 eps
Alberto Ammann
Javier Delgado
12 eps
Clémentine Poidatz
Amelie Durand
12 eps
Anamaria Marinca
Marta Kamen
12 eps
Sammi Rotibi
Robert Foucault
12 eps
Nicholas Wittman
Oliver Lee
12 eps
Cosima Shaw
Leslie Richardson
12 eps
Ben Cotton
Ben Sojer
6 eps
Kata Sarbó
Ava Macon
12 eps
Roxy Sternberg
Jen Carson
6 eps
Esai Morales
Mike Glenn / Lt. Michael Glenn
6 eps
Levi Fiehler
Cameron Pate
6 eps
Evan Hall
Shep Marster
6 eps
Akbar Kurtha
Dr. Jay Johar
6 eps
Jeff Hephner
Kurt Hurrelle
6 eps
Mirjam Novak
IMSF American Member
1 eps
Tom Nguyen
Olympos Town Resident
1 eps
Brian Schatz
Self (archive footage)
1 eps
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How Mars actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
Mars reads strongest on Spectacle, Bingeability and World Building.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
The story
What it's about
The maiden crew of the Daedalus spacecraft must push itself to the brink of human capability in order to successfully establish the first sustainable colony on Mars. Set both in the future and in the present day, this series blends scripted elements set in the future with documentary vérité interviews with today’s best and brightest minds in modern science and innovation, illuminating how research and development is creating the space technology that will enable our first attempt at a mission to Mars.
The run
Seasons
2 seasons · 12 episodes.
Season 0 · Complete
Specials
20162 episodes
Season 1 · Complete
Season 1
20166 episodes
6.8IMDbThe year is 2033, and our first manned mission to Mars is about to become reality. As a clock counts down the final 90 seconds to landing, an expert crew of astronauts endures the final harrowing moments before touching down on the red planet. Even with the best training and resources available, the maiden crew of the Daedalus spacecraft must push itself to the brink of human capability in order to successfully establish the first sustainable colony on Mars.
Best episode · S01E02 Grounded
Season 2 · Complete
Season 2
20186 episodes
6.6IMDbFive years after the successful maiden mission to the Red Planet and IMSF has established a fully-fledged colony, Olympus Town, but they cannot finance the Mars expedition alone. It’s now the year 2042, and doors are wide open to the private sector, but tensions arise among original mission-driven scientists and for-profit corporation, Lukrum Industries, who wants to send miners to red planet, creating new world of challenges for everyone.
Best episode · S02E06 The Shakeup
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.
S02E06
The Shakeup
Lukrum pushes its corporate interest too far and unintentionally jeopardizes the safety of both colonies. IMSF springs into action to stabilize the situation, but for some, it will be too late. In the current climate on Earth, human activity has destabilized the natural world. NASA’s Operation Icebridge studies Arctic sea ice in an attempt to bring awareness to global warming and the dramatically changing state of our planet, the only home we have… for now!
S01E02
Grounded
The Daedalus crew battles harsh Martian terrain to reach base camp. NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly undergoes a mission on the International Space Station.
S01E01
Novo Mundo
In 2033, the first human mission to Mars enters its atmosphere, while currently, SpaceX attempts to land the world's first reusable rocket.
S01E05
Darkest Days
In 2037, the psychological pressures of life on Mars reveal themselves while the crew is trapped inside the habitat. In present-day, scientists study the effects of extreme isolation in various long-term analog missions.
S02E04
Contagion
Marta convalesces as a mysterious illness sweeps through Olympus Town and Lukrum Colony. When IMSF realizes one of its own has died as a result, it races to determine the cause, origin and mode of transmission before time runs out—and more lives are claimed. Back in present day, Vladimir Chuprov, a Greenpeace activist, sheds light on an indigenous health crisis being kept quiet by the Russian state to benefit their Arctic oil endeavors.
S01E04
Power
A new crew arrives on Mars four years after the Daedalus landed to help execute plans for expansion and search for life. McMurdo Station in Antarctica serves as a modern example of how humans will settle Mars.
Recently aired
Latest Episodes
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Ben Young MasonProducer
- Taimi ArvidsonProducer
Writing
- Stephen PetranekWriter
- Paul SoletWriter
Direction
- Everardo GoutDirector
Cinematography
- Damián GarcíaDirector of Photography
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
- Disney PlusStreaming
- Amazon VideoBuy
- Apple TV StoreBuy
- fuboTVStreaming
- Google Play MoviesBuy
- YouTube TVStreaming
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