MARS 2064 - Frank Van Passel

When a team of four scientists and an arrogant robot finally arrive on Mars after many years with the task of restarting human civilization, they receive a message from the last bastion on Earth that a better alternative has been found in the meantime and their mission has become meaningless. Four stranded individuals must search for their humanity on Mars. If war, climate change, rebellious AI and identity conflicts make life on Earth unbearable, humanity decides to start over on Mars. In 2060, a mission departs with five scientists and a thousand fertilized eggs to found a new civilization. Four years later, they awaken from their cryosleep to discover that Earth has found a better planet in the meantime. Their mission? Cancelled. Their ticket? One-way only. Stuck on a barren planet, without purpose or future, the five try to make something of it anyway. They build, argue, clash, and desperately search for meaning in their meaningless existence. With help (or hindrance) from a moody robot and a contact person on Earth who responds less and less, they try to set up a new society. But how do you start that, when humanity itself is up for debate? Mars 2064 is a tragicomic look at our urge to survive, to create, and to restart, even if we have to move to a dead planet first. CAST JOKE EMMERS, BORIS VAN SEVEREN, DAPHNE WELLENS, PETER VAN DEN EEDE & NICO STURM