This TED Talk features spacecraft systems engineer Nodgen Cox, recorded live at TEDx Beacon Street

2016.

So many of you have probably seen the movie The Martian.

But for those of you who did not,

it's a movie about an astronaut who is stranded on Mars

and his efforts to stay alive

until the Earth can send a rescue mission to bring him back to Earth.

Gladly, they do reestablish communication

with the character, astronaut Watney, at some point,

so that he's not as alone on Mars until he can be rescued.

So while you're watching the movie,

or even if you haven't, when you think about Mars,

you're probably thinking about how far away it is and how distant,

and what might not have occurred to you

is what are the logistics really like of working on another planet,

of living on two planets,

when there are people on the Earth,

and there are rovers or people on Mars.

So think about when you have friends, families and coworkers

in California on the West Coast or in other parts of the world.

When you're trying to communicate with them,

one of the things you probably first think about is,

...