How do real NASA missions inspire and inform science fiction, question? Amaze! 🪨🧑‍🚀 The creative minds behind "Project Hail Mary," the upcoming film based on Andy Weir’s bestselling novel, visited JPL yesterday to talk about the making of the movie and the collaboration between scientists and creative media.

Expert selfie-taker NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren also joined the panel! During filming, @astro_kjell shared insights with Gosling on the awesome (and tough) realities of human spaceflight, like adjusting to microgravity.

@NASAJPL It's been working bothways for decades. Many sci-fi TV shows and movies have inspired NASA missions as well. Let's keep the cycle going

@NASAJPL Real science meeting creative vision at JPL! This is how we inspire the next generation of aerospace engineers. Brilliant work. 🚀

@NASAJPL Teamwork makes the dream work

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Real NASA missions provide a foundation of authenticity for science fiction, grounding imaginative stories in real physics, engineering, and exploration challenges. By visiting places like Jet Propulsion Laboratory, filmmakers and authors — such as those behind Project Hail Mary, based on Andy Weir’s novel — can see how spacecraft operate, how astronauts problem-solve in extreme environments, and how scientific data is gathered. This collaboration helps sci-fi balance wonder with plausibility, inspiring audiences while staying true to real-world science.

@NASAJPL Where I watch recording? Question.

@NASAJPL Loving it 🪨🚀

@NASAJPL Amaze! 🎶