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Questions tagged [the-martian]

A science fiction novel by Andy Weir framed as the journal of Mark Watney as he attempts to survive alone on Mars after being abandoned there in an emergency. In 2015 it was adapted into a film starring Matt Damon.

3 votes
1 answer
376 views

Why didn't the Hermes resupply ship include consumable filters?

At one point in the book after the resupply, when the Hermes is on the way back to Mars, Beck is giving a status report and says, w.r.t. life support: Limping. We've been in space way longer than ...
davidbak's user avatar
  • 1,777
-3 votes
1 answer
387 views

What decontamination and quarantine protocols are there for Mars-return craft and astronauts - e.g. The Martian? [closed]

Are there any existing or likely decontamination and quarantine protocols are there for Mars-return craft and astronauts? For example, in The Martian the entire crew have been exposed to materials ...
WillC's user avatar
  • 107
12 votes
2 answers
2k views

How were the Ares III crew expected to get from Hermes to Earth?

Looking at the still frames of the Hermes (from the movie), after the Rich Purnell Earth slingshot, I could not see any type of Earth re-entry vehicle attached to the Hermes. Was the MAV designed for ...
Stepclimb's user avatar
  • 137
0 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why didn't Mark Watney use 19 cards instead of 17? [closed]

We know that Mark set up a system where NASA could send ASCII via hex notation by setting up a system with 17 cards (16 hex digits plus ?) so that each covered a reasonable arc/sector so the message ...
davidbak's user avatar
  • 1,777
4 votes
3 answers
3k views

What happens when Mark enters the airlock [duplicate]

One time when Mark Watney entered the airlock I'm having hard time imagining why this happened. How is this explained scientifically?
martinkunev's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
687 views

Can canvas and silver-tape withstand the pressure difference in The Martian? [closed]

In the movie The Martian, after Mark screws the HAB's airlock, he seals the hole using a plastic canvas and some silver-tape. After that, he repressurizes the HAB. Is this feasible and realistic? ...
Victor Stafusa's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

How did Mark Watney not burn out all oxygen?

In The Martian, Mark creates a source of water through a complicated chemical process that involves, in part, an open flame. Flames use oxygen as fuel, and a lot of it. Since this flame seemed to be ...
David says Reinstate Monica's user avatar
24 votes
2 answers
3k views

What programming language is used in The Martian?

What is the programming language displayed on screenshot?
user avatar
17 votes
1 answer
71k views

Meaning behind Rich Purnell's email in The Martian

In the novel The Martian, in the midst of sequences where NASA is deciding to send supplies to Mark, and Rich Purnell is calculating the orbit or trajectory for the mission, there is a section that ...
quirky purple's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
425 views

Why would it take Johanssen 17 months to return?

In "The Martian", when Johanssen speaks to her father about possibly having to eat the crew if the probe fails, why does she say it would take 17 months to return alone? If the probe failed, wouldn't ...
John smith's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
2k views

In "The Martian" why would he use hex over base 10 values for the alphabet? [duplicate]

The fastest way to communicate the English language would be just having the camera point at letters. He explains that it would be too difficult to tell what the camera was pointing at. Since the ...
fightermagethief's user avatar
27 votes
3 answers
14k views

Why did Teddy (Jeff Daniels' character) pick Glorfindel from the Council of Elrond

In the movie The Martian (2015), there is a really cool nod to the Lord of The Rings where they refer to one of their projects as Project Elrond - because it is a Top Secret meeting where a momentous ...
Möoz's user avatar
  • 45.6k
16 votes
5 answers
4k views

Why weren't they already growing food on Mars?

This might be separated in to 2 questions but I have issues with Mark Watney(Matt Damon) growing his own food on Mars. Currently the space station is growing their own food. On a side note it doesn'...
William's user avatar
  • 1,561
7 votes
3 answers
3k views

Why did Mark remove the roof from the rover?

I've just seen the movie and may have missed the explanation, but why did Mark remove the roof from the Rover towards the end, before he tries going to Ares 4 landing site ?
l0r3nz4cc10's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why did Mark Watney include a question mark in his hexadecimal code?

Not a duplicate of Why does Mark use Hexadecimal to communicate? ASCII can encode a question mark. Its code in hexadecimal is 3F. Since a question mark only appears once per question and most ...
CJ Dennis's user avatar
  • 3,136

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