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Film Hopes to Inspire New Scientists

"The more women we have involved in science, technology, engineering and math, the better a society we have, and the better we'll be able to accomplish those missions and do things like go to Mars," Kugler said.

Manned mission efforts

In the film, NASA, the U.S. government space agency, tries to overcome great obstacles to bring Watney back to Earth.

That's not just science fiction. The science and technology shown in the movie is based on real-life work by NASA, which acted as an adviser to the filmmakers. And that work includes preparations for an actual manned mission to Mars.

As part of that effort, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been operating rovers to collect Martian soil samples.

Speaking to HashtagVOA via Skype, Robert Manning, the laboratory's Mars engineering manager, said his team needs diversity to succeed.

"People who see the world from different angles to come in and bring their creative ideas with them, to come here and to help us out. So what we do here is really, in many respects, an international effort," Manning said.