When the first manned mission to Mars meets with a catastrophic and mysterious disaster after reporting an unidentified structure, a rescue mission is launched to investigate the tragedy and bring back any survivors.
When a mysterious storm kills all but one crew member of the first manned mission to mars, a rescue mission is launched. Once on the red planet, the crew finds the sole survivor of the first mission who informs them that this was no ordinary storm. It was meant to protect something. But what?—Eric Thal
Commander Luke Graham is selected to lead the first manned mission to Mars. Upon setting foot on the red planet, the team discovers an ancient, domelike structure which appears to be a beacon. The dome destroys the team and leaves Luke injured. The recently widowed Jim McConnell leads the rescue mission. When they arrive, they find Luke surprisingly alive, and he has spent the time alone learning the secrets of the mysterious construct. The question now becomes: do they enter the dome and answer humanity's oldest question, perhaps risking their lives in doing so, or return to Earth with what they do know and return in force with equipment and supplies?—Ronos
In the year 2020 AD, a mission is launched whose goal is to carry humans to Mars for the first time. The mission's four crew members (Luke, Nicholas Willis (Kavan Smith), Renee Cote (Jill Teed) and Sergei Kirov (Peter Outerbridge)), upon arrival, the team discovers a bright white formation (covered with mud and rocks) in the Cydonia region, which they suspect is an extrusion from a subsurface geothermal column of water, useful to future human colonization.After transmitting their findings back to the command center on the World Space Station, they head for the site to try and learn more. Ray Beck (Armin Mueller-Stahl) is the commander of the space station.
When they arrive at the formation, they notice a strange sound, which they assume to be interference from their Mars Rover. While attempting to scan the formation with radar (which reveals that the structure underneath the rocks and mud is solid metal, which makes no sense to Luke), a large vortex forms around the structure, which envelopes and kills two of the mission's crew Nicholas and Sergei. A third member Renee was killed when a large rock breaks her visor, exposing her to the Martian atmosphere. Only the mission's commander, Luke Graham (Don Cheadle), survived as hid behind a rock formation nearby. After the vortex subsides, the formation is revealed to be part of a large humanoid face.
The formation also emits an extremely powerful EMP, which irreparably damages much of the electronic equipment on the spacecraft. Despite the damage, Luke Graham manages to upload one transmission to the REMO (REsupply MOdule) orbiting Mars. The message and the surge of energy from the formation is picked up by the World Space Station.
After receiving Commander Graham's garbled message informing of his crew-members' deaths, the Earth command center hastily dispatches another Mars mission. Realizing Luke could not have left because the pulse would have damaged the computer system of the Earth Return Vehicle (ERV) they re-purpose the Mars II mission into a rescue.
The crew of this new mission includes Commander Woodrow "Woody" Blake (Tim Robbins); Co-Commander Jim McConnell (Gary Sinise); and mission specialists Terri Fisher (Connie Nielsen) and Phil Ohlmyer (Jerry O'Connell). Terri is Woody's wife. Jim is very good friends with Luke and was disappointed that he was not picked for the first mission. Jim recently lost his astronaut wife Maggie (Kim Delaney) (due to sickness), and has no family on Earth. Jim and Maggie had trained 12 years for the first mission. Maggie believed that Mars had a special place in human civilization and that had to mean that there was something on the surface of the planet.
Astronaut Jim plays a crucial role in convincing Ray to launch the mission despite the orbits being out of sync and hence the journey taking much longer to get to Mars. Woody convinces Ray to let Jim co-pilot the rescue ship. Woody argues that Jim is the most capable astronaut and was only shaken due to the sudden death of his wife.
The goal of the mission is to investigate the tragedy and bring back any survivors. Near Mars orbit, they discover that all satellite imagery of the formation area is covered with static. They also find a planet wide dust storm moving towards the Mars-1 base area and decide to expedite their ETA so they can reach the base before the dust storm.
As the ship is being prepared for its orbital insertion around the red planet, a swarm of micrometeorites collides with the ship and compromises the ship's hull, causing an atmosphere leak. The crew works quickly to repair the hole, troubleshooting where the damage is located, and then using a self-solidifying liquid to help Woody apply the patch.
Unknown to the crew, the fuel tanks were also damaged by the micrometeorite shower, and when they ignite the main engines for the orbital insertion burn, the resulting fuel explosion destroys the ship. They quickly don pressure suits and abandon the ship, hoping to maneuver their way to the REMO. Circumstances are unfavorable, though, as the REMO is moving more quickly (in a slightly lower orbit) than the tethered astronauts. Woody concludes the only hope of a successful rendezvous with the REMO is for him to launch himself directly at it, using the remainder of his jet pack fuel, carrying a line from the others. He successfully attaches this to the REMO but is unable to stop himself as he does and floats helplessly away toward the planet. Terri, wanting to save him, decides to cut her line. Woody, not wanting Terri to be harmed, commits suicide by taking off his helmet.
When the remaining crew arrive on the red planet, they find Luke, the captain of the first team, still alive. The survivors arrive on the Martian surface, and begin repairing the ERV. He tells the rescuers about his crew's findings and informs them that the formation found was the "face". He had spent the time alone attempting to learn the secrets of the mysterious structure. He shows the rescue team his most significant clue, a recording of the noise heard in the area of the formation. He had found, after several months of analysis, that the sound was a map of human DNA, in XYZ coordinates.Luke theorizes that when the structure was scanned the first time, it was triggered into attacking the crew as an automated response, as it got the wrong input. The right input being the correct human DNA sequence.
Together, they discover that the mysterious signals are actually a prompt, requiring input of one missing pair of chromosomes which would complete human DNA. The crew dispatches a robot to send the completed signal, at which time an opening appears in the side of the structure.With a massive dust storm approaching Jim, Terri, and Luke head to the formation, while Phil stays to finish repairing the ERV. Phil is ordered to launch, with or without them, before the storm hits.The three astronauts enter the opening, which seals behind them and they discover Earth-like atmospheric conditions. They find a large dark room, and once they step inside, a three-dimensional projection of the solar system appears.
A Martian appears, silently explaining that at some time in the distant past, Mars was hit by a "planet-killer" asteroid which decimated the Martian ecosystem. The Martians were forced to evacuate their home planet and find other places to settle. During their evacuation, however, they also dispatched elementary life forms of their own to the nearby planet Earth, which at the time of the Martian evacuation, contained no life forms. Over the billions of years following this "seed-scattering", these life forms eventually became the humans who would one day land on Mars and be recognized as descendants of that ancient Martian experiment.
As the image of the Martian fades away, an invitation is offered for one of the astronauts to follow the Martians to one of their new home planets. Jim accepts the invitation, bidding farewell to Terri and Luke, and is sealed inside a small capsule. Terri and Luke race back to the ERV and arrive just as Phil is about to take off. They barely escape the dust storm into space as Jim's capsule is launched from the crumbling formation and flies past them toward the Martians' home.
