“Mars” is a TV Series produced by National Geographic. To quote Netflix’s description of the show,

“Fact meets fiction in this hybrid of scripted drama and documentary that chronicles a spacecraft crew’s mission in 2033 to colonize the red planet.”

Here’s a link to the IMBD page. Here’s a reasonable review of the show. Here’s a trailer.

I first saw episodes of Mars while on a flight. I don’t normally watch TV and thus haven’t seen any more. The episodes I did see, though, I enjoyed. The show blends documentary footage of Elon Musk, Niel deGrasse Tyson, and other Mars intellectuals with the fictional story of a Mars Mission. If the Mission is having trouble finding water, the scene will cut to Elon Musk describing the dearth of life-sustaining resources on Mars– and how to fix that problem.

In the episodes I saw, the documentary part of the show was comparing Mars to the Arctic Circle: like Mars, the Arctic is a harsh environment. If we can understand challenges we face in the Arctic, we can apply solutions to Artic challenges to life on Mars.

On a more realistic note, we’ll desperately need to regulate initial Martian life. There’s no question that corporations will seek profit from Mars, and based on our ability (rather, lack thereof) to keep profit and ethics balanced on Earth, we’ll need to work hard to ensure Mars doesn’t devolve. In the episodes I saw of Mars a corporation by the name of Lukrum lands on Mars. Conflict quickly ensues between them and the main characters of Mars, scientists on the Red Planet for solely scientific purposes.

While I don’t remember what resource “Lukrum” may have been seeking, I can imagine a few:

1. Water?
2. Minerals – or other materials useful for Martian settlements or Earthian life
3. Land (real estate) – while there’s a lot of available land on Mars, I imagine settlers (big companies) will seek to own as much as possible (think European settlers taking over Native American land). I would assume at the beginning of Martian colonization that there’ll be a few “prime settlement spots,” and that land around these areas will be most valuable.
4. Methane – Elon Musk’s Starship rocket will be fueled by methane, a common Universal resource. To be viable, Martian settlements will first need to ensure a steady supply of Methane can be collected from the Red Planet.
5. Souvenirs – think glass orb filled with Martian soil to sit on your windowsill.
6. Anything Else – Tim Cook will think of something.