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Review - Andy Weir's The Martian
#1
I first encountered this story online a couple of years ago. Andy Weir, who already has a popular online comic to his name, was serialising the story in instalments, and these were already making waves. By the time I got to read them there were only disjointed fragments online - as the decision to publish had already been made- but those fragments were very, very good.

Set maybe thirty years from now in a realistically extrapolated future, Weir's The Martian tells the story of an astronaut left behind on the Red Planet by accident. The technology he has available to him, and the clever fixes he uses to survive, are all very realistic. Some terrible life-threatening disasters occur as well, often caused by minor, inadvertent mistakes he has made.

I'm particularly interested in the nuts and bolts of this mission; such devices as the atmospheric regulator, the water reclaimer and the radioisotope thermoelectric generator are plausibly described and used to good effect by Watney, the protagonist. He makes a good effort at establishing a Closed Ecological Life Support System as well, although this is far from straightforward. It is interesting to note the details of the mission itself- it is a modification of the plan known as Mars Semi-Direct, apparently, although Weir has amended it to incorporate the use of a VASIMR propulsion system; it seems that Weir wrote a program to calculate how this system would affect the mission profile. But none of this sophistication is intrusive into the tale - it is just basically a ripping yarn and a survival story.

Sometimes Watney might seem a little too competent to be believable, or at least I would have thought so if I hadn't recently read the biography of Ernest Shackleton. Despite the most appalling hardships, Shackleton never gave in to self-doubt, and I think that the fictional Watney is a similar sort of character. In the fast-moving final act of this book, Watney comes up with a rescue plan so bizarre that even he couldn't make it work; but it turns out he's not the only MacGyver on this mission.

Recommended.
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#2
I've purchased several copies for friends, two of whom read it in one sitting. I've also loaned out my copy at work, an aerospace company, and so far about ten people have read it. All enjoyed it.

Very fun book, helped along by the humorous writing style in Whatney's diary. I hope Matt Damon pulls off Whatney well in November, this could be a great book that turns into a horrible movie if mishandled.

Yes, recommended.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
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"Everbody's always in favor of saving Hitler's brain, but when you put it in the body of a great white shark, oh, suddenly you've gone too far." -- Professor Farnsworth, Futurama
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#3
One discussion I've read on the Interwebs was about Watney's use of human waste in the CELSS; there are so many pathogens in human waste that this is not such a good idea. However I would expect that this mission (the third) would have in place some measures intended to sterilise this waste - this could be as simple as exposing it to vacuum for a specific period of time. Humans on Mars and in habitats are going to need some way of processing this material rapidly and cheaply.

Strange perhaps that Watney didn't go into more detail about this - the opportunities for humour would be extensive. Or is it just Brits who like toilet jokes?
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#4
(03-11-2015, 08:16 AM)stevebowers Wrote: One discussion I've read on the Interwebs was about Watney's use of human waste in the CELSS; ; there are so many pathogens in human waste that this is not such a good idea. However I would expect that this mission (the third) would have in place some measures intended to sterilise this waste - this could be as simple as exposing it to vacuum for a specific period of time.

Or exposing it to about 90C, you won't lose the water to vacuum and won't need the energy to boil water, but the germs will be like, "I'm melting...what a world, what a world..."

At work, we picked up on a couple of other errors. Watney's early mishap with breathing mixture ratios should've knocked him out and probably killed him. He expressed excessive concern about the RTG's radiation, too. That's about it, though.

Quote:Strange perhaps that Watney didn't go into more detail about this - the opportunities for humour would be extensive. Or is it just Brits who like toilet jokes?

"Dumb and Dumber" and "Blazing Saddles" aren't British movies. Wink

20 potty (fart) humor moments from American movies in 2 minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B5Jnho8dTc
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
----------------------

"Everbody's always in favor of saving Hitler's brain, but when you put it in the body of a great white shark, oh, suddenly you've gone too far." -- Professor Farnsworth, Futurama
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#5
Interview with Andy Weir;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbSxlq8fJAk
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#6
The trailer for the 2015 movie is out.


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#7
I'm lookin foward to the film coming out
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