Mars in "The Martian"

Surface of Mars, Courtesy of www.nasa.gov

What is your visual picture of the surface of Mars, based on the descriptions in the book? Have you seen photographs of the planet?

Without having any knowledge about the planet of Mars prior to reading The Martian by Andy Weir, what information it gives is fairly educational and accurate. It gives realistic descriptions of the atmosphere, look, and feel of how the planet is in real life... or should I say "no life"? Because that is what is on Mars. Zero life. After all, "it's famous for not having anything growing there," according to the book (Weir, 12). Although there is no plant life or animal/human life, there is room for opportunity. "Martian soil has the basic building blocks needed for plant growth, but there's a lot of stuff going on in Earth soil that Mars soil doesn't have, even when it's placed in an Earth atmosphere and given plenty of water. Bacterial activity, certain nutrients provided by animal life, etc. None of that is happening on Mars," (Weir, 12). Another thing Mars doesn't have? Water. On Log Entry: SOL 15, the astronaut explains that "being on the surface of Mars for a few million years eliminates all the water in the soil," (Weir, 15). This gives another reason to readers why there is no life on Mars, as well as giving them a general idea on how old the planet actually is. But is the planet completely without water according to the book? No! The story explains that "there isn't a lost of water here on Mars. There's ice at the poles, but they're too far away," (Weir, 24). So... there is water, but not any that is available. 

What is the atmosphere like on Mars? Well, "the atmosphere is very thin - less than 1 percent of the pressure on Earth,","But oxygen's easier to find on Mars than you might think. The atmosphere is 95 percent CO2," (Weir, 25). Another thing a reader might ask is, what is the temperature like on Mars? It is sandy all over with sandstorms where astronauts can get "whacked with 175 kph winds," (Weir, 4). The storms aren't short gusts either, the storm that they were hit with was "an hour and a half of sustained wind," (Weir, 4). This wind is filled with sand and small rocks flying around and it is very dangerous. How much sand is on the planet? A lot. After the storm was over many things were "almost totally buried in sand," if not already completely covered (Weir, 4). With all of this sand readers might assume that the planet is hot and humid like beach. The reader would assume wrong. "Mars is cold," (Weir, 34). In fact, Mars is so cold that if there was any plant life, "it'll get too cold," and kill it (Weir, 25). So wild!

How far away is Mars from Earth? According the the book, "start to finish, including supply missions, a Mars mission takes about three years," and it took them 124 days just to get there, meaning that it's a pretty far distance from Earth (Weir, 3). And people think driving from state to state instead of flying for vacation is bad... ppsshh. What if they run out of fuel and get stuck on the planet when they get there? Well, NASA has that figured out. The MAV gets sent up to Mars long before they get there because it can create fuel! How? Well, "through a neat set of chemical reactions with the Martian atmosphere, for every kilogram of hydrogen you bring to Mars, you can make thirteen kilograms of fuel," (Weir, 3). Neat, huh? It takes twenty-four months to fill the tank though, so that's why they send it up so early.

The Martian, written by Andy Weir is an excellent and educational book about what is it like on Mars. It gives bits and pieces of information throughout the story that make things more understandable to readers, especially the ones who have no prior knowledge to Mars, or space travel in itself. This book gives amazing examples of problem solving and provides great inspiration to never give up, no matter how many obstacles are in the way.



Work Cited
Weir, Andy. The Martian. Crown: MC, 2014