Robinson Crusoe on Mars

This movie was released in 1964. This was right before we went to the moon. Only a few people had been space at that point. This was as scientifically accurate as they could make the movie based on what we knew about Mars and space travel at the time. When I saw it on TV as a kid of maybe age 10, 11 or 12, I thought this must be totally accurate.

Looking back we can see what they got right and what they got wrong. They did not indicate what year the first man crash-landed on Mars so we can't fault them for being too optimistic or pessimistic.

What they got wrong:

• Noise in space. Space is a vacuum so spaceships do not make sound. You would not be able to hear an orbiting ship from the surface.
  
• In the movie, the air is thin but breathable for a time
• The pressure on Mars would cause your blood to boil
• There are no great fires on Mars
• There would be no fireballs in space
  

What they got right:

• Mars has ice-caps
• Mars is dry like a dessert
• Water cannot exist on the surface of Mars except maybe at the bottom of the deepest canyons where the atmosphere pressure might be high enough.
• Mar's sky is red
  

Maybe's

Mars may have a molten core and therefore magnetic poles which might cause similar colored lights like the Earth's Northern Lights which are featured in the movie.

Adam West plays the astronaut who dies.






Shots of the spacecraft which you couldn't really see because it flew past the camera so fast.















There were same amazing mat paintings for landscapes.