Concept art for The Martian by Steve Burg

Steve Burg did part of the concept art for sci-fi blockbuster The Martian (2015); his main focus was the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV). Here are some of his images (open link in new tab to view image in full HD resolution):

Images from Escape from Mars (1999) TV movie

Escape from Mars (1999) is a TV movie about first human mission to Mars in 2016. Five astronauts are flying with spaceship very similar to the Space Shuttle and the mission is financed by a private corporation setting profit-oriented goals. During the voyage and on Mars they encounter near-catastrophic events but in the end find bacterial life on Mars. Escape from Mars is a low-budget TV movie, having poor special effects and weak camera job, but the acting and script is decent. Here are some images from the movie:

Lockheed Martin's Mars Base Camp concept

In a few hours at 2017 International Astronautical Conference American aerospace, advanced technologies and defense company Lockheed Martin will give an update to its Mars Base Camp concept. If accepted by NASA the Mars Base Camp would be a manned "Mars-orbiting science laboratory where astronauts can perform real-time scientific exploration, analyze Martian rock and soil samples, and confirm the ideal place to land humans on the surface in the 2030s." The proposed mission would send humans to Mars orbit by 2028 and is "designed to be led by NASA and its international and commercial partners."

Recently Lockheed Martin has released some concept images for the mission (open link in new tab to view in full resolution):

Lockheed Martin's Mars lander concept

To compete with SpaceX for a viable manned Mars mission concept aerospace heavyweight Lockheed Martin has presented a Mars lander. It would act as a manned shuttle between proposed Mars Base Camp orbital station and Martian surface.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Map of possible landing sites for Red Dragon and Mars2020/ExoMars missions

Jake Robins from WeMartians Podcast has created a map of possible landing sites for SpaceX's first Red Dragon lander and NASA's Mars 2020 / ESA&Roscosmos's ExoMars rovers.

• Red X = crashed/failed landings 
• Green circle = successful landings 
• Yellow ? mark = candidate sites for Mars2020/ExoMars 
• Space "X" = candidate sites for Red Dragon

It is presumed that the most possible landing site for SpaceX's first Red Dragon lander is southern Arcadia Planitia. We will see.

NatGeo's "Mars" TV series: full episodes of season 1

Watch the full season 1 episodes of National Geographic Channel's "Mars" TV series without the geographic restrictions here. The fictional documentary series are depicting the first human mission to Mars, the subsequent building of the first human base on Mars in a lava tube and the further steps for colonization of Mars till the end of 21st century.

Content from season 2:
► FULL EPISODES  ► HD images  ► Trailer & images from it  ► Cover art

Images from: ► Episode 1

Episode 01 - Novo Mundo ( s01e01 )

Those located in US can watch episode 1 in HD quality at NatGeo's site.

HD images from NatGeo's "Mars" TV series

Here are some HD images from National Geographic Channel's upcoming "Mars" TV series which will be broadcasted worldwide starting on November 14th. The fictional documentary series will depict the first human mission to Mars, the subsequent building of the first human base on Mars in a lava tube and the further steps for colonization of Mars till the end of 21st century.

Here are also a bunch of trailers and video clips from the upcoming series.              Open link in new tab to view in full resolution:

Red Dragon landing on Mars by Chris Monson

Picture of the Day 15/9/16 - Concept art for SpaceX's Red Dragon landing on Mars by computer designer Chris Monson.
More of his art here.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Soviet cosmonauts on Mars by Klaus Bürgle

Picture of the Day 16/8/16 - Soviet cosmonauts on Mars by German sci-fi artist Klaus Bürgle. More of his retro futuristic art here.

HD images from Journey to Space documentary

Journey to Space is a 2015 3D documentary which "unveils a new era of unprecedented deep space exploration" presented by Boeing and Toyota. In the ending it features a good animation of NASA's Journey to Mars mission. Here are some HD quality screens of it.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Mars Colonial Transporter concept by Richard Heidmann

Picture of the Day 31/7/16 - Concept art for SpaceX's Mars Colonial Transporter by Richard Heidmann from the French chapter of The Mars Society (Association Planète Mars). You can also read his speculations of the possible MCP mission architecture details here.

As the day the SpaceX CEO Elon Musk intends to unveil (at the International Astronautical Congress 26-30 September 2016 in Guadalajara, Mexico) details of its 'Mars Colonial Transporter' (MCT) mission architecture is nearing, we will mostly dedicate our 'Picture of the Day' awards to the fan concept art of the MCT.

Astronauts exploring Mars by Balazs Agoston

Picture of the Day 10/7/16 - Astronauts exploring Mars by Balazs Agoston from Hungary. More of his concept art here.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Soviet lander on Phobos by Maciej Rebisz

Picture of the Day 30/5/16 - Soviet lander on Phobos by Polish sci-fi artist Maciej Rebisz. More of his art here and here.

(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)

Video: NASA's Journey to Mars

In recent months NASA has released some exciting videos visualizing its "Journey to Mars". What is more important - they represent a conceptual shift from Apollo's style approach [every expedition to it's own location] to a more longsighted approach - every expedition to the same one location. At the workshop in October, 2015 NASA officials revealed that "human exploration of Mars is not planned as a single mission, but a series of three to five expeditions, each with a crew of four to six, lasting about 500 Martian days each. All would land in the same exploration zone, or EZ. The plan includes the construction of a surface field station to be located in the center of the exploration." It means that NASA's "Journey to Mars" mission concept has become more friendly to a goal of a permanent human colony on Mars.

NASA's base on Mars after a few decades:

Concept art for The Martian movie

The official Facebook page of The Martian has posted some concept art pictures for the movie. Here they are (click for original resolution):

Mars movie review - Red Planet (2000)

In the time we all are waiting for the upcoming sci-fi blockbuster The Martian I decided to watch again and review Red Planet (2000) - a sci-fi movie stared by Val Kilmer and Carrie-Anne Moss with quite similar plot (astronauts trying to survive and get off Mars) as the The Martian but undeservedly low scored by the most critics.

Story

In the first part of 21st century humans have totally polluted Earth and now are remotely trying to terraform Mars to make it a second home for humanity. For 20 years everything seems to be going according to the plan - temperatures on Mars has been raised and dispatched algae has been starting to cover more and more of the planet introducing oxygen in its atmosphere. Suddenly all the algae vanishes and there is no other way but to send a manned mission to find out - why this is happening.

It is year 2056 and a crew of 6 is being sent to Mars aboard the "Mars-1" in the first manned mission to Mars. When they reach the orbit of Mars their ship is struck by a particle burst from an unexpectedly powerful Solar flare. In result the electronics of Mars-1 is fried and fire is spreading through all the ship. 5 of 6 crew members eject the ship with landing module but the only female - ship's captain Bowman (Carrie-Anne Moss) - stays on Mars-1 to save the ship.

Mars outpost by Robert McCall

Picture of the Day 15/9/15 - "Another busy day on Mars" by classical space artist Robert McCall.

HD images from The Martian movie

The upcoming sci-fi movie "The Martian" is based on the novel by Andy Weir and is directed by Ridley Scott (known for Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Prometheus and countless other movies). The Martian will hit theaters mostly on early October 2015 (see full list of release dates here).

Plot in brief: "During a manned mission to Mars, astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return."

More stuff from The Martian:  ►Trailers  ►Quotes  ►Concept art

Some of the best images from the various trailers of The Martian (Open link in new tab to view in full resolution):

Awesome movie trailers of The Martian [updated]

My first thoughts - Awesome! If the movie will be as good as the trailers The Martian will become the BEST MARS MOVIE EVER, overthrowing Total Recall from that throne. The Martian will hit theaters mostly on early October 2015 (see full list of release dates here).

The Martian is based on the novel by Andy Weir and is directed by Ridley Scott (known for Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Prometheus and countless other movies). Plot in brief: "During a manned mission to Mars, astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return."

More stuff from The Martian:  ►Concept art  ►HD images  ►Quotes

Update: The 2nd "official trailer" of The Martian released on 19 August:

5 spacecraft currently orbiting Mars

In a recent article "Traffic around Mars gets busy" the NASA/JPL summed up some facts about spacecraft currently orbiting Mars. The most interesting is the provided graphic of their orbits around Mars (together with planet's two natural satellites Phobos & Deimos):

So there are 5 active Mars orbiters currently orbiting the planet: