The novel, and now movie, “The Martian” has captured many people’s imaginations about possible future trips to Mars. The movie depicts many advanced technologies needed to survive on the planet, and NASA is currently developing many of these technologies in preparation for a future Mars mission in the 2030s. These technologies include powerful engines, advanced spacesuits, and farming systems.

While a mission to Mars is a couple decades in the future, much of this technology is being used right now. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is equipped with an ion propulsion engine, a type of technology that electrically charges ions of an element such as Xenon or Neon (the Dawn spacecraft uses Xenon). These engines would be used for the mission to Mars, as they can reach high speeds and greatly minimize fuel consumption. Astronauts on the International Space Station have also been growing lettuce, to test how well crops can grow in space. The ISS’s water processing system is being used on Earth to bring clean water to areas that have been affected by natural disasters. Most of the technologies needed for a Mars mission have already been proven to work, proving that this goal is actually much closer than it seems. Of course, the margin for error in space is very small, so it’s important that these technologies are as effective as possible to avoid costly mistakes.

Closer to home, asteroid TB145 made a close flyby of the earth on Halloween night. Nicknamed “Spooky” by astronomers, it passed by at a distance of about 300,000 miles and appropriately for the occasion, had a close resemblance to a skull.

Other news from space: a clump in one of Saturn’s rings, new photos of one of its moons, and the 15th anniversary of the start of continuous work aboard the International Space Station.