Martian author Andy Weir is sure we’ll colonise the moon – but says living on Mars is a step too far
Author’s second novel Artemis takes place on the moon in the 2080s at humanity’s first and only lunar city. He thinks the same thing can happen in real life, only not on Mars – ‘it’s so much farther away’
By Dave Mosher
Andy Weir, author of The Martian, a realistic tale of survival in space that was made into a blockbuster 2015 film starring Matt Damon, is about to release his second and highly anticipated novel, Artemis.
Artemis takes place on the moon in the 2080s at humanity’s first and only lunar city of the same name. It’s a riveting story about a high-stakes lunar heist featuring Jasmine “Jazz” Bashara, a Saudi-born woman and witty smuggler who’s lived inside the aluminium bubbles of Artemis since she was a child.
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In Weir’s typical style, the novel – which goes on sale on November 14 – is wildly entertaining and far-fetched, but stays surprisingly believable by leaning heavily on real-life science and engineering.
Weir talks about the book’s genesis, why he thinks humanity will colonise the moon first, his major criticism of Elon Musk's and SpaceX's plans to inhabit Mars, and why he'd never visit Artemis if he could.
Q. You could have picked any place in the universe for your next novel to take place. Why the moon, and why Artemis – a city on the moon?
A. I wanted to write a story about the first human settlement somewhere other than Earth. And I just really think that's going to be the moon. That'll definitely be the first place that we colonise outside of Earth. A lot of people would like us to just leapfrog to Mars, but Mars is so much farther away. It would be like if the ancient British colonise North America before they colonise Wales. The moon is definitely the first place that we will colonise.