Matt Damon may be the star of the Golden Globe-winning "comedy/musical" The Martian as abandoned astronaut Mark Watney, but much like NASA's real-life space missions, there was an extensive team of professional men and women working day and night to bring him home. In order to celebrate the release of 20th Century Fox's action-packed sci-fi film on Blu-ray, I had a chance to visit NASA's facilities in Houston and chat with the scientists behind the scenes. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of highly educated and talented folks who work tirelessly to keep NASA running smoothly, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that so many of the high-ranking positions were occupied by women.

The Martian did a pretty good job at portraying this real-life professional balance of the sexes with their on-screen casting. In space, Jessica Chastain played Ares III Commander Melissa Lewis and Kate Mara played the mission's system operator Beth Johanssen, while back on Earth, Kristen Wiig played NASA's PR director Annie Montrose, Mackenzie Davis played NASA's satellite monitor Mindy Park, and Shu Chen starred as Zhu Tao, Deputy Chief Scientist of the CNSA. With that in mind, we'll take a look at the actual women behind the scenes of NASA who inspired their on-screen counterparts to play pivotal roles in The Martian.

Ellen Ochoa, Director of Houston's Johnson Space Center

[Check out these links for a full rundown of our trip to Houston to visit Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston, and interviews with The Martian producer Aditya Sood and astronaut Dr. Drew Feustal.]

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Image via NASA

In preparation for a day of all things NASA and The Martian, our group of journalists first visited Space Center Houston. Before being treated to a sneak peek at the Blu-ray's bonus features and a lengthy discussion of science and sci-fi with the film's creative team and consultants, we were welcomed to the Johnson Space Center's official visitor center by none other than the NASA facility's director, Ellen Ochoa, Ph.D. 

A veteran astronaut, the JSC's second female director, and its first Hispanic director, Ochoa served as the facility's deputy director for five years before being named director in 2012. Ochoa is also the first Hispanic woman to go to space, which she did in 1993 aboard space shuttle Discovery on a nine-day mission; she has four spaceflights under her belt with almost 1,000 hours in orbit. Prior to her time at NASA, Ochoa earned degrees in physics and electrical engineering, and has co-inventor status on three patents for optical systems. That a successful scientist and role model of Ochoa's status would be the first person to welcome us on our NASA tour was a pleasantly surprising way to start our visit, but there were more such surprises to come.

Carolyn J. Kanelakos, Robonaut Program Manager

Though Mark Watney certainly used his technical and engineering skills to his advantage in surviving the desolation of Mars, he could have used a buddy or two to help him in his endeavors. And while the men and women of NASA who travel to the edges of known space deserve all the attention they get and more, there are some other entities that make the trips and do work alongside the astronauts; these are the Robonauts.

Defined as "a dexterous humanoid robot built and designed at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston", the Robonauts and their development program are currently under the guidance of engineer Carolyn J. Kanelakos. I got to talk to Ms. Kanelakos about the Robonaut program, its future, and how she got involved with NASA:

Vickie L. Kloeris, Manager of International Space Station Food System

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Image via NASA

Space travel, by its very extraterrestrial nature, easily captures the imagination at a young age, but one of the more practical yet curious aspects of manned space flight can be enjoyed right here on terra firma: space food. While Dippin Dots may reign as the "Ice Cream of the Future" for generations to come, NASA's solutions to providing nutrition for astronauts will likely evolve with every successive mission. And they've come a long way from the days of Tang, as Vickie Kloeris, the manager of the International Space Station Food System explained to us. She described her position as follows:

I am the NASA technical manager of the shuttle and Space Station food systems. Simply put, I manage the food system for the shuttle and the International Space Station. I am responsible for all the food that is sent on orbit to the shuttle and the space station. We have two different contractors who provide food -- one for the shuttle and one for the space station. I am the NASA interface to each of these contractors and it is my responsibility to oversee the development and provisioning of all food for human spaceflight.

As a member of the professional organization of food scientists - the Institute of Food Technologists - Kloeris holds degrees in both Microbiology, and Food Science and Technology. She puts that knowledge base to good use in preparing dehydrated and pre-packaged food and beverages that keep the astronauts healthy, energized, and physically fit. There's also the added psychological benefits that come with having a variety of food options during spaceflights and the ability to trade food items with other teams of international astronauts; all of the food packages are described in English and Russian for ease of translation. Kloeris and her group work closely with other interdepartmental teams to keep a close eye on the astronaut's caloric intake, water usage, and sodium levels among other metrics to ensure that they are prepared to face the rigors of space travel and to return to Earth healthy.

While Kloeris' team isn't necessarily rethinking the many uses of potatoes (or the ability to farm them) as seen in The Martian - though she admits to wanting to develop a food program for Mars one day - they are the ones responsible for keeping our space-faring scientists fit and fed. Our compliments to the chef!

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Courtenay R. McMillan, Flight Director

A trip to a NASA installation wouldn't be complete without huge rockets igniting in a controlled explosion in order to launch a massive payload of new supplies to the International Space Station. With that in mind, our group went to Johnson Space Center's Mission Control where we were treated to a Q&A with Ralph Grau (Deputy Manager, International Space Station Program, External Integration Office) and Courtenay McMillan (Flight Director). Since we're focusing in on the Women of NASA, it's worth noting that McMillan earned a degree in Aerospace Engineering (along with a Minor in Russian Language) and has directed over 400 shifts of I.S.S. operations. She continues to plan, train, and fly complex mission objectives for the I.S.S. and its international and commercial partner teams.

You can check out the highlights of the Q&A below, along with shots of the CRS-4 liftoff below:

Past, Present, and Future

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Image via NASA

All the pulse-pounding action and comedic hijinks aside, The Martian presents a fairly realistic look at what mankind's space travel potential could be in the 2030s. But during the visit to NASA, I was struck by the strong sense of history felt within the facility's walls. It wasn't just a feeling that the organization was fond of remembering its formative days - it helps that they have a small museum dedicated to artifacts from the last 50 or so years of space flight - but there was also an environment that inspired plenty of optimism for its future. Sure, in the meantime there is plenty of work to keep each and every one of the employees busy, but NASA's truly impressive achievements are best measured by keeping one eye on where they've come from, and the other on the distant, ever-unreachable horizon in the future.

The Martian plays an important role in helping to shape the everyman's consensus of the state of space travel. It's mission to Mars is futuristic enough to capture the imagination but close enough to feel like we can just about realize it. The team is progressive enough to scrub away the idea that only old white men are doing all the important scientific work, though not quite a true reflection of the agency's diverse workplace of today.

Perhaps the most important part of The Martian's success is how it opens the door for future adaptations of practical space exploration. One such film, based on author Margot Lee Shetterly’s book "Hidden Figures," looks back on the earliest days of NASA to when women such as Katherine Johnson were the actual, flesh-and-blood computers of the organization during the Civil Rights era. Sure, I'm still waiting for an Ada Lovelace biopic, but the story of the women scientists behind some of NASA's most famous achievements and astronauts should hopefully find more helping hands now that The Martian has proven extraterrestrial soil to be fertile, cinematically speaking. And as we look to the future, the latest class of NASA's astronauts, a group composed of equal numbers of men and women which could actually be going to Mars one day, gives hope that women will start to be recognized for their work on an equal footing with men in all walks of life, but especially in scientific pursuits:

[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/NASA/status/685146762017935362[/EMBED_TWITTER]

The Martian, available now on Blu-ray, inspires scientific encouragement, sparks the imagination, and celebrates the men and women of science at NASA and beyond. If you missed it in theaters, give it a watch today!

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