The Martian - Unresolved Questions

Preface: this is non-erotic, so be advised (but since this is also a bit of a movie review for The Martian, I decided that Reviews & Essays was a better landing spot for this missive than non-erotic, if you disagree, feel free to sue me for the wasted electrons it takes for you to see this should you so desire).

I have recently made The Martian my favorite Science Fiction movie because I thought it was so well made. Until, that is, I watched it a few times over the past few weeks. Since then, I have come up with some issues, questions, and concerns about the movie which lessen my appreciation for it as a story. Since we all seem to like stories on this website, I thought I'd share my observations for those who may wish to commiserate over my concerns (or not).

Flaws in The Martian storyline include:

1) The initial storm that caused Watney's stranding was only a plot element due to flawed science (Mars' thin atmospheric winds could not generate anywhere near the stated 8600-newton force needed to scrub the mission or tip the MAV to begin with unless the wind speeds were well above anything actually to be expected in reality. Additionally, if that were actually possible, how could any mission plan be made that operated on the presumption that a manned mission would leave Earth while relying on the pre-positioned MAV to be upright when they got there? - any storms able to knock it over between launch from earth and arrival on Mars would doom the crew - or at least cancel the landing!)

2) Watney's mission to recover the pathfinder probe took MANY DAYS (13 days was mentioned and he was apparently less than 1/2 way there at that point) using rover 2 - yet he did not appear to load up the water reclaimer or oxygen generator (or solar panels) as was done for the trip to the Ares IV MAV site.

3) Where was the Ares III landing site as compared to the Area I and II sites? Could Watney have used the rover to go to either site to retrieve the EXCESS food left behind by the previous mission crews? (NASA sent 60+ days of food for crews of 6 for each of those 2 previous 31-day missions, which means there should have been a LOT of leftover food already on Mars.)

4) When Vogel is approaching the console to watch the video message, he visibly has to "walk downhill", which would not be the case in a real centripetal living quarters habitat.

5) More on food: he grew 400 plants for 2 harvests(48 days each) between Sol 31 and Sol 134 - so that should have netted him about 400 * 3-5Lbs each harvest of about 5-6 Oz. potatoes or about 11 potatoes each or 880 potatoes in total (approximately). That's quite a few potatoes. Presuming his yield was lower due to poor soil conditions, or lack of water/organic material, perhaps halve that yield. Still a fair amount of food.

6) The orbital rendezvous maneuvers to capture Watney near mars would have had significant impact on their return trajectory to earth - a subject not addressed at all.

7) The "hit it with a rock" scene failed to account for the difference in gravity between Wateny on Mars and the JPL/NASA worker shown jumping on the rover's roof to break the roof through (what worked on Earth may not have been enough on Mars) - facts glossed over without note or explanation.

8) The explosive charge used to breach the inner forward airlock door of the Hermes was not shaped - never mind the ridiculously short timeframe to build it, arm it, trigger it with a lighting panel. An un-shaped charge would very likely do much more damage to the surrounding airlock than just putting a hole through the inner airlock door to which it was directly attached - even in a vacuum, meaning that the hull of the Hermes would likely have been significantly compromised by bomb shrapnel alone.

9) Radiation hazards to the Hermes crew were glossed over during the extra 533 days in space (this despite the need to curve the orbit much closer to the sun due to the poor orbital position of Earth and Mars at the point - in the interests of a faster transit time to retrieve Watney).

10) Given Mars' thin atmosphere and the physics involved - Watney could have erected a framework on the rover2 trailer to put several solar panels in a vertical "sail"-like array to provide an ongoing charge while the rover was traveling during daylight hours. (Though with the lower energy density of the light on Mars, would this have mattered enough to make it worthwhile?)

11) Power - Watney retrieved the Thermoelectric Generator (box of Plutonium) to heat the Rover2 cabin - but was there not also an electrical output available (It is a GENERATOR after all)? Also, presuming that the same type of unit was included with the Ares I and II missions, would these not afford even more power generation for Watney in the Rover (assuming he was able to retrieve them along with the surplus food from the other Ares landing sites)?

12) The video clip of Watney approaching the Ares IV MAV in rover2 appears to show the trailer carrying the Pathfinder rather than carrying the full rack of solar panels. OOPS!

13) No mention is made of the spin of the MAV capsule for rendezvous (an oversight clearly that would have to be dealt with in planning stages).

14) He never got a flat tire on the rover2 or the trailer in all his travels?! (one wonders what happened to rover1, then?)

15) Where, exactly was Watney for that shaving/washing scene just prior to launch in the Ares IV MAV since he'd already emptied & opened up the MAV capsule to the martian atmosphere? (The featured mirror & stuff weren't in the capsule or in the rover2.)

16) She plugged the bomb into a USB port!? *KaBoom!* right then and there.

17) (if only to make this relevant to the website) - what about SEX during the mission - a.k.a. the sexual needs of 6 human beings on a mixed-gender crew for a 1+ year mission to mars (never mind the added stress of the ADDITIONAL 533 days in space before getting back to family/spouses)? I hope that they had enough protection - how about the citizenship of a baby born in space (or on Mars) during such a mission?

So, Ok, let me have it with all your "grumpy old man" and related comments...or you can try answering any of those points...or adding a few more of your own.

Whatever. :-)