Maps of Movies

The Martian (2015)

Where The Martian says it takes place, and where it was really shot.

Mars is a set: its deserts were filmed in Jordan, its base interiors in a Hungarian studio

Scenes and places

The dust storm on Acidalia Planitia

A severe dust storm threatens the crew's ascent vehicle and the mission is aborted in a rush. Astronaut Mark Watney is struck by flying debris and, with no time to search, the crew presumes him dead. He is left behind on the planet alone.

Set in Acidalia Planitia, Mars — The Ares III landing site where the crew is exploring on sol 18 of a 31-sol expedition.

A fictional landing site on Mars, used as the film's opening setting.

Filmed at Wadi Rum, Jordan — The Mars exteriors were filmed in the desert of Wadi Rum; the wiki does not say which scene was shot where. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Watney alone in the Hab

Watney wakes up after the storm and recovers inside the crew's surface habitat. He starts a video diary and, as a botanist, grows a potato garden from the crew's bio-waste and Martian soil.

Set in The Hab, Ares III base, Mars — The crew's pressurised surface habitat where Watney recovers and later grows potatoes.

A fictional base; the film's interiors were built as studio sets.

Filmed at Korda Studios, Etyek, Hungary — Interior scenes were filmed on sets built at Korda Studios; the wiki does not name the Hab set specifically. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

NASA's Mission Control sees him alive

Satellite planner Mindy Park notices that equipment on the Martian surface has moved and suspects Watney is alive. NASA director Teddy Sanders then announces it to the public, but chooses not to tell the Ares III crew who are still heading home.

Set in Johnson Space Center, Houston — NASA's Mission Control, where Mindy Park and her colleagues track satellite images of the Ares III site. Google Maps · Apple Maps

NASA's astronaut training and flight-control campus near Houston, Texas.

The Pathfinder replica at JPL

Mars missions director Vincent Kapoor visits JPL director Bruce Ng to borrow the lab's replica of the Pathfinder probe. He wants to speak with everyone who worked on the original in 1997.

Set in Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena — The NASA lab whose team built the 1997 Pathfinder probe and keeps a replica of it. Google Maps · Apple Maps

NASA's robotic-spacecraft lab; the film's probe replica is part of the plot, and the wiki mentions only that the cast and crew visited JPL, not filming there.

Watney digs up Pathfinder

Watney drives out to retrieve the Pathfinder probe, hoping to restore its communications. After NASA makes contact, he is told to link Pathfinder to the rover so the two sides can finally talk by text.

Set in Ares Vallis, Mars (Pathfinder site) — The old Pathfinder landing site that Watney drives to in the rover.

A fictional Mars landing site tied to the real 1997 Pathfinder mission.

China offers a booster

After a NASA resupply ship fails after launch, the China National Space Administration decides to offer a launch vehicle that was meant for its Taiyang Shen space probe. Giving it up would effectively cancel that mission.

Set in China National Space Administration, Beijing — The agency that decides to offer a launch vehicle, originally meant for its Taiyang Shen probe. Google Maps · Apple Maps

China's national space agency, whose headquarters are in Beijing.

Hermes turns back for Mars

Astrodynamicist Rich Purnell works out a plan to send the Chinese booster to resupply the Hermes, which can then use Earth's gravity to slingshot back to Mars. Sanders rejects it, so Henderson sends it to the crew on his own, and they vote to go back.

Set in Hermes, Ares III spacecraft — The crew's interplanetary vessel, on its way back to Earth.

A fictional spacecraft with no filming location in the sources.

The long road to Schiaparelli

Watney's only chance of rescue is the next mission to Schiaparelli crater, four years away. After months of waiting, he sets out on the long journey to the Ares IV ascent vehicle already parked there.

Set in Schiaparelli crater, Mars — The planned landing site for Ares IV, where its ascent vehicle is already waiting.

A crater on Mars; in the film, the landing site for the planned Ares IV mission.

Characters

• Mark Watney — An astronaut and botanist left behind on Mars who must survive until rescue.
• Commander Lewis — The Ares III commander who leads the crew aboard the Hermes.
• Vincent Kapoor — NASA's director of Mars missions, who works to get a link to Watney.
• Mindy Park — A NASA satellite planner who first suspects Watney is alive.

Questions answered on the map

• Where was Mars really filmed?