NASA Helps Bring 'Project Hail Mary' Film to Life

When Hollywood wanted to make a film about saving humanity through space exploration, they turned to the people actually preparing to explore the Moon and Mars.

NASA scientists and astronauts worked directly with the creators of "Project Hail Mary," the new film starring Ryan Gosling as an astronaut on a deep space mission. The timing couldn't be more perfect. The movie premieres Friday, just as NASA prepares to launch Artemis II, its first crewed mission in decades aimed at eventually putting Americans on Mars.

The collaboration went deep. NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren met with Gosling on set to share what life in space really feels like. Agency experts in astrobiology and astrophysics answered technical questions throughout filming to keep the science grounded in reality.

The partnership even reached beyond our planet. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station watched the film while orbiting Earth. Chris Williams, Jessica Meir, and Jack Hathaway became perhaps the most exclusive movie audience ever, screening it 250 miles above the ground.

The Artemis II crew will get their turn next. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen plan to watch the movie during quarantine before their historic launch. These four will become the first humans to travel to deep space in over 50 years, turning yesterday's science fiction into tomorrow's reality.

The Ripple Effect

NASA sees movies like this as more than entertainment. Will Boyington, who leads communications for the agency, believes science fiction creates real scientists. When kids watch astronauts save the world on screen, some dream of becoming the astronauts who actually explore it.

The film features NASA's iconic logos, approved by the agency to connect fiction with the real missions happening right now. Those symbols remind viewers that the wonder they feel watching a movie is actually unfolding in real life through programs like Artemis.

The partnership shows how storytelling and science can work together to inspire. While "Project Hail Mary" takes audiences on an imaginary journey, NASA's Artemis program will take real humans on real journeys to uncharted territory. Both feed the human need to explore, discover, and push beyond what we think is possible.

The next generation of space explorers might be sitting in theaters this weekend, watching fiction and then looking up at the Moon, knowing humans will soon return there for real.