Space Command sent Roy to Mars to record a message that was being sent to his father on the Lima Project. Why not just have Roy record the message on Earth and transmit it to Mars who could re-transmit it to the Lima Project? Time was of the essence as they were trying to stop the next Surge.
shareDang, you should apply to President Trump to be head of Space Command! ;-)
shareI'm thinking the same thing, the answer is: director and writer are idiots.
shareI thought there was a cover up. They knew about the mutiny and the deaths but kept it secret. Having Roy go to Mars keeps it more hushed up and is a logical launch site for a mission out to Neptune.
The film had some kind of subtext about space travel causing psychological problems, so maybe public knowledge of the mutiny cripples space travel?
[deleted]