Picture it if you can… at the height of the great space race and Apollo era, a lone astronaut, Eugene ‘Cosmo’ Nutt, is sent to Mars on an ultra-secret mission. He is presumed lost but through technological wonders, old-fashioned know-how and sheer willpower, he survives. Almost 50 years later, he is discovered living alone on Mars by young scientist Yami, while she is monitoring transmissions from Mars Curiosity rover. Now, the history of how Cosmo got to Mars, how he survived all those years and how he manages to communicate with a world-wide network of Cosmo Cadets, is all imaginative rocket fuel for STEAM learning through entertainment.
This is the story of ‘Cosmo’, a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) inspired animated, edutainment character created by Colorado animation and new media production company, Worker Studio.
Cosmo brings together a rare combination of talent, experience and craft from storytellers, artists and technicians lead by studio founder, animation and visual effects veteran, Michael ‘Ffish’ Hemschoot. All happen to be space geeks too and it is in such perfect conditions that a star like Cosmo is born.
Many people, who have encountered Cosmo at various stages of development, cleverly comment that he’s like The Martian for kids. Yes, Cosmo may share similarities with Mark Watney in Andy Weir’s science fiction novel and movie, but Cosmo’s story and mission hold a much more fantastical premise and an elaborately designed educational mission. What both characters have in common is being a bastion of science and humanity in a barren, merciless landscape, even if Cosmo may or may not be an android - Spoiler Alert!
The team at Worker Studio set no small challenge in launching an animated property that involves actual rocket science. Cosmo is ready for adventure across traditional and new media landscapes and while Worker Studio drives the craft behind Cosmo’s animated storytelling, rocket science is provided by the education team at the Space Foundation - his ‘mission control’.
