'The Martian' Screened for Astronauts on the International Space Station

First Posted: Sep 21, 2015 06:49 AM EDT

It'll still be two weeks before we can see Ridley Scott's The Martian here on Earth. But astronauts are getting some special treatment. A special screening was hosted on the International Space Station, allowing the astronauts to view the film.

The residents of the ISS watched the film on their new HD projector, which the astronauts usually use for conferences and tech software.

The movie itself is based on a best-selling novel by Andy Weir. The book follows a lone man who needs to figure out how to survive long enough on Mars in order to return to Earth. Stranded on Mars due to a massive dust storm, he is left with a half-destroyed camp and no one else to help.

Of course, it's unlikely that this type of dust storm would actually occur on Mars-or at least not to the point where an astronaut would be stranded. The atmosphere on Mars is a lot less dense than that of Earth's. This means that when winds blow, they may be just as fast, but not nearly as intense. However, because the dust particles on Mars are slightly electrostatic, they do cling to objects and can mess up gears.

The Martian will be in theaters on October 2.

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TagsAstronaut, Astronauts, international space station, ISS, Movies, Movie, space, Mars