Coober Pedy, in South Australia outback, stars as Mars with stars in 2023 American reality television show
Stars on Mars, a 2023 Fox streaming service television reality show, had American celebrities competing to survive in Mars-like condistions, simulated by Coober Pedy in the South Australian outback. Inset: Star Trek's William Shatner, who hosted the show, and Lance Armstrong, one of the “celebronauts”, making a surpise return to South Australia.
Coober Pedy, South Australia’s outback underground town, simulated Mars for a 2023 Fox streaming service reality television show, Stars on Mars, featuring United States of America celebrities.
Stars on Mars was hosted from a studio mission control centre by Star Trek actor William Shatner who promoted the show as “the most realistic celebrity Mars colony simulation ever created”, with the dozen celebrities made to endure living conditions akin to the red planet. (Moon Plain, northeast of Coober Pedy, had been seriously identified as having the geological conditions for a potential site to plan for an actual crewed mission to Mars.)
The Stars on Mars “celebronauts”, included a dozen mostly former athletes, Modern Family actress Ariel Winter and Vanderpump Rules personality Tom Schwartz. A surprise member of the lineup was former cyclist Lance Armstrong, who was previously paid by the South Australian government to be a celebrity entrant in the Tour Down Under event before his drug use was revealed. South Australian Film Corporation, a government bodyfuning local film productions, admitted it was unaware Armstrong would be appearing on the show. Stars on Mars was partly funded through the Australian government’s location incentive.
Coober Pedy had been the location for films such as the 1985 Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner, and Limbo in 2023, with Simon Baker and Natasha Wanganeen.
Called the opal capital of the world, Coober Pedy had its own extraordinary world under the red surface, with more than 50% of the population living in dugouts to weather the extreme summer heat and winter cold of the Australian outback.