AFP / News Corp: Surviving in space is hard and scientists say “The Martian” shows precisely what challenges astronauts will face on a pioneering mission to the Red Planet. Interest in the 20th Century Fox film — which was already high — has been stoked by NASA’s new science-related announcement about Mars. In the movie, NASA lands an ethnically diverse crew on the Red Planet, but Matt Damon’s character accidentally gets left for dead with about a month’s supply of food.