The Martian: Question 3

Do you believe the crew did the right thing in abandoning the search for Mark? Was there an alternative choice?

To set the scene, the book starts on SOL 6 when Mark wakes up after being hit by debris from the most recent storm on Mars. The MAV spaceship which the crew used to land on Mars’ surface was able to stand up to 150 kph winds but the storm had wind readings of 175 kph. Commander Lewis had told the crew to stay together and make their way to the Mav when the storm hit. Mark fell just a little behind the others and was taken away from the group by some flying debris. Commander Lewis told the rest of the crew to get into their seats in the MAV and she would continue to look for Watney for as long as possible. The signal from Mark’s suit could not be found and Commander Lewis was running out of time to find him before the MAV tipped completely over. Luckily the crew made it off of Mars’ surface and began their journey home. Mark on the other hand woke up to the sound of his suit making a loud noise. His blood had helped patch his suit enough that he was still alive but barely.

I believe that the crew did the right thing with the information that they were presented with at the time when they decided to abandon looking for Mark. I agree with the Commander’s thoughts in that she wanted to find him or at least bring his body home instead of leaving him on Mars, however the crew as a whole made the correct decision to save the majority. To answer the question of an alternative, I do not feel as though there was an alternative for the crew given the circumstance that they were in. Even when they practiced what could go wrong on Earth, they could not have been fully prepared for what happened to them on SOL 6.