The Science Behind ‘The Martian’
SPOILER ALERT: Please be aware that there are spoilers ahead. If you haven’t watched The Martian, go watch it. I mean it. You have been warned.
The Martian:
The Martian is a science fiction film, based on the book of the same name, about astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) and his fight for survival when his crew accidentally leaves him behind on Mars. While Watney spends his 560 sols alone on Mars, he does many things, but most importantly: he colonises Mars with the help of some potatoes.
The Atmosphere and The Storm:
In the Martian, all the events begin due to a dust storm. Even though this sets up an interesting beginning, scientifically, it’s not possible. Mars’ atmosphere’s density is about 1% of that of Earth’s at sea level (1). Wind speeds on Mars can reach up to 160 km/h (100 mph), but due to the thin atmosphere, they won’t have much impact. The winds would be barely able to throw a pebble, and definitely wouldn’t be able to, say, break off a satellite and impale an astronaut with it. (2)
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This is due to the size of the dust particles in the atmosphere – they are smaller than the dust particles on Earth, and just so happen to be the right size to absorb and emit blue wavelengths, whilst scattering red wavelengths. (3)
Radiation
Research has found out that spending a prolonged amount of time in space increases one’s risk of developing a radiation-related sickness, such as cancer. On Mars, each Ares crew member spends up to a month on Mars, and without any magnetosphere to protect them from radiation, they are at great risk. This is especially true for Watney, who spends more than a year on Mars with nothing more than his space suit for protection. Perhaps it would have been better if the Hab had been depicted as been half submerged in the ground, to at least provide partial protection from radiation. (4)
John Carter, the protagonist, describes the Green Martians as having, “scrawny bodies, long necks and six legs” (24). He likens them to the Indian warriors who had chased him before his travel to Mars (30) as the Green Martians are trained in and pride
The author of The Martian, a science fiction book about Mars, was never a professional scientist or writer. He first posted The Martian on his website for free until his readers asked him to put it on Kindle. The Martian is an action packed novel in which Mark, an astronaut, is stuck on Mars. NASA and the Ares 3 crew members work together to save Mark. Mark is left on Mars when his crew-mates accidently leave him behind. There’s no communication, there’s hardly enough food, and Mark faces many more man vs. nature problems. A big theme in this novel is conflict in which Mark has to overcome many obstacles to survive Mars. The Martian is an action packed novel with an amazing author, the element of suspense, and a surprising sense of humor.
For those of you who have somehow come this far in your otherwise admirable education without once seeing this influencial film, a brief synopsis: a group of scientists at the North Pole discover a flying saucer buried in the ice, and with it the body of a man from Mars.Unintentionally, they blow up the saucer and melt the Martian.The thawed Martian, or Thing, proceeds to run amok, killing scientists and draining their blood in order to nourish its progeny.Importantly, a group of visiting air force men have taken over in this moment of crisis, a coup which the film seems to believe requires no justification.Thus the major conflict is defined; not, that is, between man and Martian, but between soldier and scientist.The leader of the scientists, Dr. Carrington--who is referred to earlier in the film as both a genius and, more significantly, the "man who was at Bikini," thus aligning him with the H-bomb--is portrayed as arrogant, cold, precise, unemotional, i.e., everything we've come to expect from a card-carrying 1950s egghead.In the four short scenes I'm about to show you, Dr. Carrington demonstrates just what we have to fear.
The Martian is a story that involves a visit to the mars, and after that, the astronauts come out of the Mars leaving behind Mark Watney who his real name is Matt Damon. The team assumed Mark was dead after a strong storm. He tried to survive with the remains of the supplier till he was able to launch his way back to the Earth (MacIsaac, 2015). The story is represented in the Novel, and a movie and these two platforms have some similarities and differences. The movie is the representation of what is happening in the book. Therefore, not everything that it is in the book is covered in the one and half film, therefore several scenarios are left out.
The story of The Martian focuses on the obstacles botanist and astronaut Mark Watney must overcome to survive on the planet Mars. His adventure is filled with fictional and non-fictional elements that are most likely difficult for the normal individual to identify what is actually realistic and what is simply fantasy. After taking a closer look, this film contains a lot more realism to actual science and space travel today. This paper will closely analyze and discuss three accuracies and inaccuracies of the film in relation to the content discussed in ESS 102 lectures, labs, and assignments.
In the book The Martian by Andy Weir, Mark Watney is thought to be dead and left on Mars after a sandstorm during Sol 6. Mark has to survive with what’s left on mars and through many obstacles and tribulations in his fight to survive. The way Mark’s character broadens from start to finish shows that Mark is witty, rational, and driven.
On May 20th, 2013 a EF 5 tornado hit Moore, Oklahoma and surrounding towns, with a path as wide as 1.3 miles wide (2.1 km) and had a wind speed, estimated at its peak, of 210 miles per hour (340 km/h). Killing 24 people, and injuring 377, this was one of the United States worst tornadoes in the past few years, along side the Joplin, Missouri tornado, in 2011. One of Mother Nature’s most dangerous and still very mysterious phenomenons averages about 1,200 reported each year, resulting in 80 deaths and injuring 1500. With very little known about them, especially whether or not they will form is one of the questions that plague meteorologist to this very day. What causes tornadoes, how does the tilt and gravity of the earth affect the winds to produce a tornado, and what will the future hold about our understanding of tornadoes?
According to Ahrens (2009), a tornado is defined as, “A rapidly spinning column of air that blows around a small area of intense low pressure coming from the base of a thunderstorm to the earth’s surface” (p. 394). Tornadoes can form in one of two ways either through a supercell thunderstorm or through a nonsupercell thunderstorm (Ahrens, 2009). A supercell thunderstorm forms when the ground grows warmer in spring and summer and the air further above the ground is cold (Ahrens, 2009). Warm air near the surface rises, as it cools the water vapor it carries condenses forming cumulus clouds and eventually form into cumulonimbus clouds (Ahrens, 2009). Winds near the surface blow in one direction while the winds further up blow in another; the difference creates a horizontally rotating mass of air (Ahrens, 2009). Rising warm air pushes the horizontally rotating air upright therefore, creating a mesocyclone which usually extends 2-6 miles in width (Nation Severe Storms Laboratory [NSSL], 1992). These rotating updrafts define a supercell thunderstorm and set the stage for possible tornadoes (Ahrens, 2009).
The windieness can affect how a ball moves too. For example think about dropping a ball.Dropping the ball when the wind is really strong, the ball will not fall in the exact spot as the ball would have if the wind was not strong.
Living on Mars is nearly impossible, especially with limited food, water, and lack of communication. For Astronaut Mark Watney, this newfound isolation was his life for the span of a year. All of Earth thought he was dead. In fact, his funeral had already taken place. Somehow though in a miraculous fashion, Watney was able to survive his seemingly tragic fall, and stay alive in the heart of a dust storm. With the rest of his crew leaving and sending out reports that he had died, not only was Watney alone, but nobody even suspected he had a chance of being alive. Fortunate for Watney, he was an expert in botany and chemistry. These fields of science were able to benefit him greatly in growing more food, and figuring out how to keep himself hydrated.
As we all know, safety is fundamental to the aviation industry. There are many factors will cause dangerous to flights, such as human factors, problem of aircraft structures and so on. Flight safety has many challenges. Due to the climate variability and suddenness, meteorology has become a severe problem in aviation. Many air crashes are in the result of bad weather. In generally speaking, there are several weather phenomenon have much influence on flights, like turbulence, including clear air turbulence, thunderstorms, icing, volcanic ash. People have spent a lot of energy in predicting and avoiding these weather problems. According to the NASA Langley Research Center, in the 1970s and 1980s, multiple aviation accidents were attributed to wind shear phenomenon. So it is important for us to know its causes and features so that we can predict it more accurate to ensure the aviation safety. This essay will firstly introduce the definitions of microburst and wind shear, and the relations between them. Following this, it will explain these weather phenomenon’s effects on flight and discuss some air crash cases. Finally it will look at the approaches to avoiding microburst and wind shear from different aspects in order to keep the flights’ safety. As we all know ,a good pilot is not the pilot who survive in a bad situation ,if a pilot take chance to do something with bad weather ,the pilot is not profession .I think a good pilot is the person that he can make a good decision to decide to fly or cancel the flight .Most of the experience captions will not take any risk to doing missions with the bad weather ,such as the microburst or the wind shear ,it is stupid ,so we should know the weather conditio...
Mark Watney faces many challenges when a freak storm hits unexpectedly and forces his crew members of Ares 3 to evacuate Mars without him. He must fend for himself by growing potatoes in Martian soil, rationing his food to last as long as possible, and of course, doing what everyone thought impossible, surviving on the Red Planet. By doing these things, Mark Watney displays traits such as intelligence, bravery, and resourcefulness that many small business owners and entrepreneurs can only dream of or work hard to develop. Watney is a very intelligent individual in ‘The Martian’ by Ridley Scott, proving time and time again that being well-rounded is a substantive thing in today’s ever-changing world. Watney exhibits his intelligence and talents profusely by mixing soil from Earth, his own feces, and Martian soil to grow enough potatoes to last until the next Ares mission to Mars.
“I think humans will reach Mars, and I would like to see it happen in my lifetime” was said by Buzz Aldrin, a NASA astronaut. The former American aeronaut from Montclair, New Jersey believes that since Mars does exist, it is waiting to be reached by humans. When this would happen, he says that the human race would “evolve into a two-planet species.” Present day Mars has a lot of canyons, mountains and volcanoes. Even though the surface is Mars is very old, scientists learned about different younger rift valleys, plains, hills and ridges. According to recent reports, there were lakes and rivers, along with an ocean billions of years ago. The low temperatures on the planet cause there to be polar ice caps and frozen water present. Scientists continue to notice several discoveries on the planet that lead them to think there was once life on the planet. Different clues have scientists wanting to find out about even more. Many scientists in the past few centuries have been curious if life on Mars is possible or if it has ever been before.
Solar wind is an example of space weather. Solar wind is when the a star ejects particles from its corona. These particles are usually electron and protons and the rate of ejection depends solely on the stars activity at the time. Space weather are the conditions in the space environment that humans are interested in because they have impacts on the health and safety of equipment and humans in space and on the ground. Examples of space weather are the particle density, IMF-interplanetary magnetic field-, strength and orientation, and the number of protons and electrons. Space weather can be both celestial and deadly; the most mystical things can be a result of space weather but deadly consequences too. Space weather depends mainly on the star, for example: the stars activity, the intensity of the stars flares,...
Andy Weir’s The Martian portrays the highly deadly and dangerous life on Mars. Mark Watney is on the planet Mars on a NASA mission with other astronauts, but like any good book, something unexpected happens. Mark is stranded on Mars with no crew and no communication. He’s alone. Well, he has the HAB of course.