Log Entry: Sol 6
I'm pretty much fucked.
That's my considered opinion.
Fucked.
Six days into what should be the greatest two months of my life, and it's turned into a nightmare.
I don't even know who'll read this. I guess someone will find it eventually. Maybe a hundred years from now.
Description:
Sorry for the profanity in the first sentences, but what would you say if you have been left for dead by your fellow astronauts as they blasted off for home? If your Mars-to-Earth communication system has been destroyed by a violent storm? If the next mission to Mars is four years away and you only have enough food for 400 Sols (Martian days)?
Yes, I thought you might say the same thing as Mark Watney, now the sole inhabitant of Mars in Andy Weir's gripping, fascinating, and humorous survival novel, The Martian.
But Watney, the Botanist/Engineer of the ill-fated Ares 3 Mars landing team, is a resourceful cuss. Someone who does not take kindly to a hopeless situation and is determined to spend his 400 days at least trying to survive and even increase his highly unlikely chances for rescue.
The Martian is a Robinson Crusoe for the 21st century, complete with technology gizmos, NASA egg heads, highly-trained astronauts, and a smart aleck, brilliant, humorous hero. It is a story for anyone who enjoys The Swiss Family Robinson, Endurance and Packing for Mars books, as well as MacGyver, Apollo 13, and Cast Away TV shows and films.
During a ferocious wind storm, the commander of the third landing on Mars decides, to ensure survival for her crew of astronauts, to abandon the three-month mission, return to the escape ship, and head back to Earth. Unfortunately, while sprinting to the ship, one crew member, Watney, is blown away by the wind and stabbed by the communication antenna, piercing his space suit. The crew cannot find him in the blinding sand storm and, before the wind permanently damages their ship, reluctantly leave him behind as dead.
Upon regaining consciousness, Watney understands his situation and considers what needs to be done to survive until the next planned Mars mission in four years at a landing site 3,500 kilometers away. With no communication system, three months of food packets for the six-person crew, an inflated Hab living space, some solar panels, two Mars rovers, six space suits, and other miscellaneous technology, he is severely limited in his options. But he does have his brain. And duct tape.
He learns how to communicate with Earth using their orbiting satellites to photograph signs and Morse code messages he constructs. Potatoes can be raised in the Hab using dirt from Mars enhanced by the Earth sample and his own "fertilizer." Water can be extracted from a complicated, dangerous chemical process that nearly kills him.
For relaxation, he has the personal property of the other astronauts, consisting of the complete TV series of "Three's Company" and "The Dukes of Hazard," as well as a computer full of disco tunes from the 1970's. Whether he starves, is killed by a Martian storm, blows himself up, or goes crazy from the entertainment is the ongoing question.
But there is hope. Watney carefully considers every problem, then doggedly creates a solution - some that work and others that don't. He knows NASA is dedicating all its resources to figuring out how to save him if he can hold on somehow. Seems an impossible task as effort after effort fails.
He tests a makeshift bracket for solar panels by hitting it with rocks because "this kind of sophistication is what we interplanetary scientists are known for." There are some technical work-around fixes that seem perfectly reasonable, although very confusing to a non-astronaut like me. But each action is carefully detailed as to why it might/will/won't work for each problem and off he goes to try it out.
And Watney keeps his sense of humor, calmly wondering:
I was in awe at the expertise Watney, the other astronauts, and ground support displayed over and over again. These are the real geniuses of our generation, the can-do people who make things happen in face of incredible odds against them, much like the NASA ground support team and astronauts did to rescue the crippled Apollo 13.
It is a fascinating book, a suspenseful premise with many shocking surprises as problems are tackled with incredible thought and skill. Highly recommended for science nerds, space fanatics, survival story junkies, and those just looking for a humorous and admirable main character overcoming hostilities by his wit and skills.
Yes, I thought you might say the same thing as Mark Watney, now the sole inhabitant of Mars in Andy Weir's gripping, fascinating, and humorous survival novel, The Martian.
But Watney, the Botanist/Engineer of the ill-fated Ares 3 Mars landing team, is a resourceful cuss. Someone who does not take kindly to a hopeless situation and is determined to spend his 400 days at least trying to survive and even increase his highly unlikely chances for rescue.
The Martian is a Robinson Crusoe for the 21st century, complete with technology gizmos, NASA egg heads, highly-trained astronauts, and a smart aleck, brilliant, humorous hero. It is a story for anyone who enjoys The Swiss Family Robinson, Endurance and Packing for Mars books, as well as MacGyver, Apollo 13, and Cast Away TV shows and films.
During a ferocious wind storm, the commander of the third landing on Mars decides, to ensure survival for her crew of astronauts, to abandon the three-month mission, return to the escape ship, and head back to Earth. Unfortunately, while sprinting to the ship, one crew member, Watney, is blown away by the wind and stabbed by the communication antenna, piercing his space suit. The crew cannot find him in the blinding sand storm and, before the wind permanently damages their ship, reluctantly leave him behind as dead.
Upon regaining consciousness, Watney understands his situation and considers what needs to be done to survive until the next planned Mars mission in four years at a landing site 3,500 kilometers away. With no communication system, three months of food packets for the six-person crew, an inflated Hab living space, some solar panels, two Mars rovers, six space suits, and other miscellaneous technology, he is severely limited in his options. But he does have his brain. And duct tape.
He learns how to communicate with Earth using their orbiting satellites to photograph signs and Morse code messages he constructs. Potatoes can be raised in the Hab using dirt from Mars enhanced by the Earth sample and his own "fertilizer." Water can be extracted from a complicated, dangerous chemical process that nearly kills him.
For relaxation, he has the personal property of the other astronauts, consisting of the complete TV series of "Three's Company" and "The Dukes of Hazard," as well as a computer full of disco tunes from the 1970's. Whether he starves, is killed by a Martian storm, blows himself up, or goes crazy from the entertainment is the ongoing question.
But there is hope. Watney carefully considers every problem, then doggedly creates a solution - some that work and others that don't. He knows NASA is dedicating all its resources to figuring out how to save him if he can hold on somehow. Seems an impossible task as effort after effort fails.
He tests a makeshift bracket for solar panels by hitting it with rocks because "this kind of sophistication is what we interplanetary scientists are known for." There are some technical work-around fixes that seem perfectly reasonable, although very confusing to a non-astronaut like me. But each action is carefully detailed as to why it might/will/won't work for each problem and off he goes to try it out.
And Watney keeps his sense of humor, calmly wondering:
- "How come Aquaman can control whales? They're mammals! Makes no sense."
- "It's clear that General Lee can outrun a police cruiser....why doesn't Rosco just go to the Duke farm and arrest them when they not in the car?"
- How can Three's Company ever be the same after "the fiasco....replacement of Chrissy with Cindy?"
I was in awe at the expertise Watney, the other astronauts, and ground support displayed over and over again. These are the real geniuses of our generation, the can-do people who make things happen in face of incredible odds against them, much like the NASA ground support team and astronauts did to rescue the crippled Apollo 13.
It is a fascinating book, a suspenseful premise with many shocking surprises as problems are tackled with incredible thought and skill. Highly recommended for science nerds, space fanatics, survival story junkies, and those just looking for a humorous and admirable main character overcoming hostilities by his wit and skills.
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Roach, Mary. Packing for Mars
A wildly interesting book as the author details her time visiting NASA and other training programs to answer questions about space travel, specifically a Mars exploration project. She offers chapters on how to survive for 1000 days in a Greyhound bus-sized space craft, riding a Mars rover, using a zero-gravity toilet, sex in space, and much more. Delightful, funny, and scientific. (previously reviewed here)
Bradbury, Ray. The Martian Chronicles
Stories of the exploration of Mar from the earliest voyages by astronauts to the flights of everyday people and their effect on the Martian planet and civilization. (previously reviewed here)
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