Buzz Aldrin, celebrated Apollo astronaut and an outspoken champion for the pursuit of space exploration, is on a mission. He has written a new book titled “Mission to Mars.” While the title focuses on Mars, the book covers much more. Buzz lays out his goals for the space program and how he believes we can get humans to Mars by the 2030s. He makes the case and argues passionately for pushing our boundaries of knowledge and exploration of our solar system and presents his “unified space vision.” He emphasizes space exploration should not be a competition, but with cooperation a stronger path to a sustainable future in space could be forged.

The films competing in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes were announced today. Irish interest emerges in the form of Ruairi Robinson’s Last Days on Mars. You may recognise that name. A decade ago, Ruairi received an Oscar nomination for his superb animated short Fifty Percent Grey (see below). His debut feature stars Liev Schreiber and Romola Garai in the tale of a perilous mission to the red planet. Adapted from a story by Sydney J Bounds, the picture, partly financed by the Irish Film Board, features visual effects from a team based at Screen Scene in Dublin.

When news broke that there was going to be a reality show where people traveled to Mars to establish a human settlement in 2023, lots of people joked about who they would want to send up there. Well, Jimmy Kimmel has a suggestion. On his show last night, Kimmel showed the ”first official video application” for the Mars program. Wearing a tin foil hat, a shirt with the word Mars on it, and a purple cape, Gary Busey hummed and danced around a miniature solar system, claiming he should be one of the lucky few that gets to go to Mars… because he’s been there before.

In a new book from National Geographic, celebrated astronaut and bestselling author Buzz Aldrin boldly advocates continuing exploration of our solar system. In MISSION TO MARS: My Vision for Space Exploration (National Geographic Books; ISBN 978-1-4262-1017-4; on sale May 7; hardcover), by Buzz Aldrin and Leonard David, Aldrin lays out his goals for the space program and how he believes we can get humans to Mars by the 2030s, a vision shared by President Obama and one that is fortified by private industry and international cooperation. In the book, which includes a foreword by Aldrin’s son Andrew, Aldrin makes the case and argues passionately for pushing our boundaries of knowledge and exploration of our solar system and presents his “unified space vision.” Aldrin discusses the history of space flight, including a reflective, not nostalgic, look at the people, technologies and steps that were taken to accomplish America’s Apollo moon landings, and plots a course of future exploration. He says “Do not put NASA astronauts on the moon. They have other places to go.” And he emphasizes that the path forward is not a competition; we cannot restart an engine to rerun a race we previously won. This is a controversial notion that causes significant division among astronauts.

Nanette Lepore, the designer best known for frilly and ruffly and otherwise dreamy outfits, debuted her Fall 2013 collection at New York Fashion Week this morning. The theme? Mars. Not space, mind you, but Mars. "Moody tones and spacey surfaces define Nanette's fall collection as she explores the contours of Mars," the designer's Tumblr explained. (Earlier: "Nanette's fall fashion show inspiration is out of this world. Honey, let's go to Mars.")

Presidential inaugurations are big deals, and tend to attract high-profile stars like Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen who are eager to rub elbows with the newly inaugurated commander-in-chief. But next week, a very unusual celebrity will be appearing in President Obama’s parade: the NASA scientist known as “Mohawk Guy.” Bobak Ferdowsi, who earned the love and admiration of nerds everywhere as the vertically coiffed activity lead for NASA’s mission to Mars, will be rolling with his fellow scientists in Obama’s inaugural parade on Jan. 21 and a full-scale model of the Curiosity rover that they safely landed on Mars in August of last year, as well as a life-size replica of the new Orion capsule. And in true Ferdowsi fashion, he’s also planning a new haircut for the event – but all he’s saying right now is that it will be a “surprise.”

Plan of the City is a new animated film, conceived and directed by Joshua Frankel, about the architecture of New York City blasting off into outer space and resettling on Mars. The film's visuals are an animated collage combining live action footage, animated elements, illustrations and treated photographs, including photos taken by the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity made available to the public domain by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

From the files of what will they think of next, singer-songwriter-producer will.i.am will debut his next song on Mars. NASA announced the news itself via press release on Friday. The song, "Reach for the Stars," will beam down from the Mars Curiosity rover to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. on Tuesday, where the Black Eyed Peas singer will hold an event to promote science education. According to NASA, "Reach of the Stars" deals with will.i.am's "passion for science, technology, and space exploration." will.i.am's connection with the Mars Curiosity rover goes back to last year, when the singer teamed with NASA for his i.am.FIRST program. During an appearance on Fox News last August, it was joked that will.i.am would debut one of his songs on Mars to see if any intelligent life exists on the planet. "Reach for the Stars" will debut at 4 p.m. EST on Tuesday.

While the landing of the Curiosity rover last week got people imagining what it would be like to send humans to Mars, likely no one was picturing the way artists Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick show it. Their photo-montages depict a Martian landscape populated by two stoic women climbing rock formations, walking among romanesque ruins, examining technological relics and giving birth to children – and all the while in their space suits.

It's sexy to be a scientist. A new viral video set to the tune of LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It” is making the rounds, paying a hilarious tribute to NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity team in the wake of the country’s obsession with its landing on Aug. 5. The spoof video shows a group of “NASA” members hard at work on landing the Mars rover, touting their space skills in rap form.

It's sexy to be a scientist. A new viral video set to the tune of LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It” is making the rounds, paying a hilarious tribute to NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity team in the wake of the country’s obsession with its landing on Aug. 5. The spoof video shows a group of “NASA” members hard at work on landing the Mars rover, touting their space skills in rap form.

Mars turns from dusty dead zone to Earth-like paradise in Terraform, a striking sci-fi short created by five recent graduates of French visual-effects school ArtFx. “Terraform is a short film mixing live-action footage and CGI,” wrote team member Thomas Nivet in an e-mail to Wired. “It tells the story of the planet Mars, being terraformed.” The six-minute short (above) flows like a folk tale being read to a child in a far-distant future. “One day, the fire birds tore the sky apart,” says the voiceover, just before a wave of terraforming machines blaze through the Martian atmosphere and land on the rocky red planet. Splendid shots of spaceships and other machinery follow.

At the end of the day, John Carter is made by Disney, and while it is rated PG-13, efforts to temper down the more adult-oriented themes and writings found in the Burroughs source material have steered this project towards at least attempting to score a more family-oriented demographic. Surprisingly, for an Andrew Stanton film, John Carter possesses only a few scant moments of genuine humor and/or earnestness. Those moments of levity are much needed and welcomed because John Carter becomes so enamored with its own Barsoomian/Martian civil war storyline, and so lost within its own universe, that it never bothers to make thoughtful and intriguing connections.

Teachers, parents and students cultivate creativity, resources and energy to present two co-curricular musical plays per year, including this fall's "Vacation On Mars." Scientists may be years away from placing humans on the surface of Mars. But Pleasanton's Walnut Grove Elementary School music specialist Sharolyn Borris and her students this week beat scientists to the punch. When she began working as music specialist at Walnut Grove nine years ago, the school's PTA gave her the opportunity to run two annual musical plays on a parent-funded stipend. “It’s become huge,” said Borris. “We had 115 second and third graders in this show.”