One of astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson’s quibbles with Interstellar is that the faraway planets that the movie’s astronauts explore in search of a safe haven for humanity seem a lot more dangerous than our very own next-door neighbor—Mars. Tyson, then, is likely among the millions of people who have now seen the sci-fi short film sweeping the internet which imagines what the future of space colonization might look like. It includes, among other destinations in our solar system, a visit to the Red Planet.
“Wanderers,” created by the animator Erik Wernquist with a rousing voiceover by Carl Sagan (reading from his book Pale Blue Dot), features real, potentially habitable locations in our solar system, with humans added to the landscape, often looking tiny and vulnerable.
Much of the video is based on actual satellite imagery from NASA. Some of the locations, such as Saturn’s moon Iapetus, were entirely built in CG by Wernquist, using NASA photos for reference. Here is a sampling of the images Wernquist released from his video:
Great Red Spot on Jupiter
Saturn’s moon Enceladus
Victoria Crater, Mars
Saturn’s moon Iapetus
Jupiter’s moon Europa
Uranus’ moon Miranda
“Ringshine” on Saturn
