National Geographic Channel colonized part of lower Manhattan last week for an interstellar experience that promoted its six-part documentary series Mars. The tented activation, called “Experience Mars,” took place Wednesday to Saturday on vacant land at the corner of Varick and Canal streets and offered multiple virtual-reality activities, props from the show, and replicas of NASA’s Mars rovers.
The television show, which premieres on November 14, combines a scripted drama set in the year 2033 about the effort to colonize Mars mixed with documentary-style interviews with SpaceX founder Elon Musk, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, science writer Ann Druyan, and others about the actual history of the space program and its efforts to reach Mars. Like the show, the Mars experience melded the fictionalized world of the Mars colonization effort with real-life NASA history and recreations of what it’s like to travel through space.
“Our marketing team wanted to stage a big experiential activation for our global event series Marsthat really stood apart from what is often seen on the streets of New York,” said Chris Albert, executive vice president of global communications and talent relations at National Geographic Channel. “It was definitely the biggest premiere in our network’s history and marked the start of our push to be the world’s leading destination for premium science, adventure, and exploration content.”