How Accurate Is The Martian? (The Book)

[Kujako]

Few key points.
1. The atmosphere on Mars is too thin for the kind of dust storm that starts the story.
2. Any potatoes sent into space would be irradiated.
3. The air filters can be cleaned with heat, so the whole O2 scrubber thing in the buggy isn't needed.

[TwoNineMarine]

Few key points.
1. The atmosphere on Mars is too thin for the kind of dust storm that starts the story.
2. Any potatoes sent into space would be irradiated.
3. The air filters can be cleaned with heat, so the whole O2 scrubber thing in the buggy isn't needed.

What do you mean any potatoes sent into space would be irradiated? Like in space in general? Wouldn't the Hab and what not keep the potatoes safe?

[Kujako]

What do you mean any potatoes sent into space would be irradiated? Like in space in general? Wouldn't the Hab and what not keep the potatoes safe?

As in, any food being sent up into space gets irradiated to stop bacteria from spreading.

[TwoNineMarine]

As in, any food being sent up into space gets irradiated to stop bacteria from spreading.

Ah like irradiated before it gets sent up. I see.

[Deleted]

Ah like irradiated before it gets sent up. I see.

Aka it can't be planted to spawn new plants.

[Cebel]

I won by a minute, therefore I am the moderator now.

[Darsithis]

Aka it can't be planted to spawn new plants.

If it isn't irradiated, it can, provided you have sprouts on the spud.

[Deleted]

If it isn't irradiated, it can, provided you have sprouts on the spud.

It would be very very tricky. Since the place planted, Mars soil, is irradiated by cosmic rays daily. Dunno, but if a plant spawn I wouldn't be sure it's safe to eat, or better put it "safe to eat and not give you cancer".

[Rotomon]

Andy Weir had top NASA and JPL fans before it was published and if anything math wise was off they helped him out. The only real details of the book that were fabricated were the suits as we arent quite that advanced but thats the nice thing about setting it in the future is we can speculate. (fabricated details meaning the science behind the story, Obviously the story is fiction)

[Rukh]

Heck yeah it's possible, that's how we live in Oklahoma.

[Kujako]

It would be very very tricky. Since the place planted, Mars soil, is irradiated by cosmic rays daily. Dunno, but if a plant spawn I wouldn't be sure it's safe to eat, or better put it "safe to eat and not give you cancer".

Well it was planted inside the HAB. So no worry about the cosmic rays. And to his credit, the author went to extraordinary lengths to explain the existence of the potatoes. To the point of finding a date that was within when the story was set where Mars and Earth where in the correct position for a mission that would have the people on Mars for Thanksgiving. The idea was that it would be a PR stunt of Thanksgiving on Mars. However, there is zero chance that NASA would let non-irradiated food into space. Just think what bacteria would do to an O2 scrubber or water reclamation system. Which is also something not covered in the book. He introduces bacteria and humidity to the HAB... there would be some problems as a result.

[Rukh]

It would be very very tricky. Since the place planted, Mars soil, is irradiated by cosmic rays daily. Dunno, but if a plant spawn I wouldn't be sure it's safe to eat, or better put it "safe to eat and not give you cancer".

I think that's a little different. Its bombarded by cosmic radiation, but it's not radioactive particles.

[TwoNineMarine]

Aka it can't be planted to spawn new plants.

Sure. I thought he meant it go irradiated just by being on Mars or something.

- - - Updated - - -

It would be very very tricky. Since the place planted, Mars soil, is irradiated by cosmic rays daily. Dunno, but if a plant spawn I wouldn't be sure it's safe to eat, or better put it "safe to eat and not give you cancer".

Better that then dying by starvation I suppose.

[Deleted]

It would be very very tricky. Since the place planted, Mars soil, is irradiated by cosmic rays daily. Dunno, but if a plant spawn I wouldn't be sure it's safe to eat, or better put it "safe to eat and not give you cancer".

Well, considering the other alternative was dieing anyway, living a few more years until the cancer kills him might have sounded like a good alternative for him. I don't know.
Plus, the book/movie are set in the future, maybe there's already something extending the life of cancer patients by a lot.

[Adam Jensen]

Well, there's also the known plot-device-error that was required to set the whole thing up. Mars' atmosphere is so thin that a "strong" windstorm wouldn't feel like more than a breeze, so the windstorm that causes everything wouldn't actually ever happen. Andy Weir even admitted that openly, saying that there really wouldn't be a book without the plot device, so it was a known error.

Huh.

Mass Effect 3 also had a massive dust storm in the Mars mission. I wonder if it's a common misconception that Mars has them?