Why astronauts aren't wearing their spacesuits on Mars in The Invisible Enemy?
In The Invisible Enemy episode of The Outer Limits (1964) astronauts aren't wearing their spacesuits on Mars because it was shown that the atmosphere on Mars is breathable. They are at the beginning, but later on they're not. Why is that?
It is because in '60 it was believed that the atmosphere on Mars is breathable, or because of something else?
My question is whether it was known that the air is not breathable, but it was only for the show, or whether at that time it was believed it was breathable, that's why they did it for the show.
Best Answer
My question is whether it was known that the air is not breathable, but it was only for the show, or whether at that time it was believed it was breathable, that's why they did it for the show.
No, it's just for the show
It's been known since the 19th Century that Mars' atmosphere is not breathable.
Spectroscopic analysis of Mars' atmosphere began in earnest in 1894, when U.S. astronomer William Wallace Campbell showed that neither water nor oxygen were present in the Martian atmosphere.
Although the planet in the show is Mars, the episode was based on a short story* by Jerry Sohl, 'The Invisible Enemy', which was first published in Imaginative Tales magazine in September 1955. That story takes place on the fourth planet of a faraway star not Mars.
Obviously, when the story was adapted the writers just plugged in Mars not caring out scientific accuracy but preferring the story.
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