There’s a four-week mission to Mars taking place right now, complete with a Mars landing module known as the LEM, a full-size Mars rover, a mobile quarantine unit, a bio lab and an interplanetary excavation unit. Only the “mission” is not actually taking place on Mars, it’s taking place on Manhattan’s Upper East Side inside the 55,000-foot Park Avenue Armory. Space Program Mars is a wildly inventive art experiment from Tom Sachs that is equal parts art installation, science project and "space nerd amusement park." The installation is a creative exploration of what it would be like to explore the Red Planet, along with a non-stop display of clever wit (yes, the LEM dispenses whiskey). Oh, and did I mention that all of the Mars crew members (ahem, cast members) also wear the Nike Mars Yard Shoe?
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