Verreaux, whose design credits include Contact and Raiders of the Lost Ark, is no stranger to difficult assignments, but designing for the future provided its own special set of challenges.

How closely did you work with NASA in designing the space equipment for Mission to Mars?

We went to the Johnson Space Center in Houston and got the full tour. We asked them if an artificial gravitational system was too sci-fi. They said no - that's something they've been wrestling with.

We got to see the habitat they built for long-range missions. It's a big thing developed for a space station, like a big, inflatable pumpkin. The idea is that this ship would be assembled at the space station rather than being launched from Earth.

The system we worked with is not practical; it would cause extreme vertigo. We had to take some license to make it look cool.

NASA has several different designs, but they seemed too Hollywood.

The hub - which is the center of a ship - had a central nodal point with cables. At the end of each tether is a habitat, each about a quarter of a mile apart. I thought this was interesting, but that nobody was going to buy this.

It also didn't work in terms of the action in the movie. That's why we went for something a little more contained.

The same with the spacesuit. An earlier design of the helmet looked like a bubble, but there was too much reflection and not enough illumination on the faces. We ended up with something that looked like the helmets in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

You said the artificial gravitational system you built wasn't practical. What sort of scientific-accuracy standard did you set for yourself and the design team?

NASA doesn't have any mandate for a manned mission to Mars, so we ended up doing a combination of what things might look like 20 years from now and going back to the Apollo missions.

There's a level of accuracy with lots of rivets and bolts within the shuttle, because that's what people are used to seeing in sci-fi films. Some of the stuff NASA was doing was more streamlined, so much so that nobody would believe it. I added some stuff to make it look more realistic.

Did NASA approve or veto any of your designs?

We showed them everything and they pretty much approved everything. I don't think they liked the Rover too much, but that was an economy-driven thing.

How do you design for the future? Do you try to anticipate trends or just go with a personal vision?

I tend to try to keep things fairly reality-based, although I would love to do a space film with Dr. Seuss type of aesthetics.

The things that really change isn't the architecture, it's the sociological stuff. Today, we all have cell phones, pagers, bottles of Evian water. How could people have predicted 30 years ago that we'd all be drinking bottled water? That's the stuff you never get.

We'll probably still have space helmets and backpacks in 20 years. And the control panels in the shuttle will probably be more voice interactive. But then, design-wise, you don't have anything to do.

Basically, you either say I'm going to make it really wild or you go for a retro look, like Gattaca, where everybody dresses like the Righteous Brothers. In a film like this, where things need to be realistic, people aren't wearing wetsuits. They're not dressed like something out of Star Trek.

How did your work on this film compare with the design work on your other films, like Contact or Raiders of the Lost Ark?

I think visually it's good stuff, but you don't know how it's all going to tie together when a film is done.

What was it like working with Brian DePalma?

Brian is a lot different than working with Bob [Zemeckis, director of Contact] or Steve [Spielberg, director of Raiders of the Lost Ark]. On Contact, that was pretty much a "go" project. With this film, we went through several phases where we weren't sure it was going to get made or not.

Brian has a different style of working. He's clear about what he doesn't want, but he doesn't talk about it a lot.

The face on Mars, for example. We went through a long design process. I'd show Brian something, and he'd just say, "No, Ed. Make it look like a sleeping goddess."

So I got some books on mythology and looked at pictures of goddesses. In some ways, he's less verbal than other directors, but he's clear about what he wants.

Why do you think we're so fascinated with Mars?

I think people are looking for what's next, especially as we're rounding the corner of the millennium. It's something people have always been interested it. Maybe some people are looking for salvation and answers.

Personally, I'm not an astronomy buff. But there is something about the stars that makes you metaphysically wonder. I'm curious to see how my nine-year-old takes to this movie.