The Martian Question #3
Question #3:
Do you believe the crew did the right thing in abandoning the search for Mark? Was there an alternative choice?
Answer:
First things first, before answering the question above a few questions of my own popped into my head. How was Mark abandoned? Were there any prior planning of "what-ifs"? Did the astronauts have to sign an agreement saying they understood the dangers of going to Mars? Such as if they were to never come back, die or injured in action on the trip. These are all things that have to be taken into account when answering the prompt.
A little background on how Mark was abandoned.
"The MAV is a spaceship. It has a lot of delicate parts. It can put up with storms to a certain extent, but it can't just get sandblasted forever. After an hour and a half of sustained wind, NASA gave the order to abort. Nobody wanted to stop a month long mission after only six days, but if the MAV took any more punishment, we'd all have gotten stranded down there."
"Everyone made it but me"
"Then one of those long thin antennae slammed into me end-first. It tore through my suit like a bullet through butter, and I felt the worst pain of my life as it ripped open my side."
"The last thing I remember was seeing Johanssen hopelessly reaching out toward me." page 4
After reading that small portion of The Martian, I can firmly say that in my opinion the crew did the right thing in abandoning Mark on Mars. The crew did not make the call about leaving Mark, NASA did. If they were to go find him they too would have been abandoned on Mars. As for NASA making the decision about leaving the mission early, I agree with it. NASA was putting the lives of the men first and giving up all the hard work they put into for preparing for this mission. Even if NASA were to not call the crew back to Earth, the MAV spaceship should not have withstood the impact of the sandstorm. I feel that there was no alternative choice to be made. These days almost every places of work makes the employees sign an agreement saying that the place of work is not and will not be liable for any injury occurred during the job. So I see this as part of that agreement. If I were to be in Mark's situation I would feel awful but still think that the crew and NASA did the best thing for the majority of the group. As well as survival of the fittest, it was unlucky for Mark to be hit with the antennae but in a life and death situation it is everyone for their self (the majority of the time, with a few exceptions).
Do you believe the crew did the right thing in abandoning the search for Mark? Was there an alternative choice?
Answer:
First things first, before answering the question above a few questions of my own popped into my head. How was Mark abandoned? Were there any prior planning of "what-ifs"? Did the astronauts have to sign an agreement saying they understood the dangers of going to Mars? Such as if they were to never come back, die or injured in action on the trip. These are all things that have to be taken into account when answering the prompt.
A little background on how Mark was abandoned.
"The MAV is a spaceship. It has a lot of delicate parts. It can put up with storms to a certain extent, but it can't just get sandblasted forever. After an hour and a half of sustained wind, NASA gave the order to abort. Nobody wanted to stop a month long mission after only six days, but if the MAV took any more punishment, we'd all have gotten stranded down there."
"Everyone made it but me"
"Then one of those long thin antennae slammed into me end-first. It tore through my suit like a bullet through butter, and I felt the worst pain of my life as it ripped open my side."
"The last thing I remember was seeing Johanssen hopelessly reaching out toward me." page 4
After reading that small portion of The Martian, I can firmly say that in my opinion the crew did the right thing in abandoning Mark on Mars. The crew did not make the call about leaving Mark, NASA did. If they were to go find him they too would have been abandoned on Mars. As for NASA making the decision about leaving the mission early, I agree with it. NASA was putting the lives of the men first and giving up all the hard work they put into for preparing for this mission. Even if NASA were to not call the crew back to Earth, the MAV spaceship should not have withstood the impact of the sandstorm. I feel that there was no alternative choice to be made. These days almost every places of work makes the employees sign an agreement saying that the place of work is not and will not be liable for any injury occurred during the job. So I see this as part of that agreement. If I were to be in Mark's situation I would feel awful but still think that the crew and NASA did the best thing for the majority of the group. As well as survival of the fittest, it was unlucky for Mark to be hit with the antennae but in a life and death situation it is everyone for their self (the majority of the time, with a few exceptions).
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