Weir's The Martian.

[Ranb]

I read The Martian and enjoyed it. http://www.amazon.com/Martian-Andy-Weir/dp/0553418025/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419636340&sr=8-1&keywords=the+martian

I do have a question.  The time on the surface was supposed to be one month.  The book was written in 2012; were we still thinking in terms of a year to Mars, spend a month on the surface and then trek 12 months back to Earth?  I'm thinking that a longer term on the surface so they can return 18 months later when Mars approaches Earth would be more believable.

Anyone here think the first manned mission to Mars will be one way?

Ranb

[smartcooky]

Anyone here think the first manned mission to Mars will be one way?

Ranb

I tend to think the scenario laid out in the movie "Mission to Mars" (Gary Sinise) was pretty much right (even if the movie itself were crap... it had a weak, contrived premise and contained more cheese than a family sized pizza. In the movie, there were two missions each with a crew of four, launching three months apart near the beginning and end of the 2020 launch window (Jul to Sep). The intent was for the first crew to set up the habitation module (the Hab) with the intent of having everything ready to support a total of eight people on Mars for an extended period.

In 2007, Discovery Canada put out a three hour "docu-drama" mini-series called "Race to Mars" that gave a reasonably believable portrayal of what a Mars mission might look like. If you have three hours to spare....

Part One:

Part Two:

I think the idea that we might to go to Mars and only stay for a few days is not feasible or practical and frankly, I can't see them doing that. It worked for the moon because the travel time is just a few days. For Mars its 5 to 10 months, so longer term missions will need to be planned. They will likely set up a base of operations there and plan to stay until at least the next return window.

[BazBear]

I read an interview where Weir stated he used ion propulsion on the Hermes interplanetary craft to avoid some of the problems chemical propulsion systems would have as far as launch windows and transfer orbits etc. for human transport.

He also said in that interview that there is an easter egg in the novel. He doesn't explicitly give the year(s) that The Martian takes place during, but I guess it can be determined from the other info he does give, ie. launch windows, travel times,  the light time communication lags etc.

[Ranb]

The novel was concerned with launch windows as there was no long term sleep for the crew and consumables were an issue.  A movie based on the book will be released late 2015 with Matt Damon in the main role; he will be the protagonist this time instead of the antagonist of Interstellar. 

I recall the unpressurized habitat (as shown by the tent flapping in the breeze) in Mission to Mars protecting a man without a suit as one of the reasons I walked out of the movie.  Maybe they can do a better job with this one. 

Thanks for the links cooky

Ranb

[Peter B]

I bought the book on Saturday at lunchtime. As I write this on Sunday night I'm about a third of the way through, and thoroughly enjoying it.

There are moments when I ask, "Seriously, would it be that simple/safe?" and other moments when I ask, "Seriously, would it be that hard/dangerous?" But then, I have none of the skill sets of the characters, so I'm willing to take it on trust that these various activities would pan out the way they do.

Incidentally, what's the angular size of Phobos as seen from the surface of Mars?

[Bryanpoprobson]

I bought the book to read when I was in Hospital in October, but for one reason or another I didn't read it. I picked it up Friday night and finished it last night. Very good read I must say.

[BazBear]

Incidentally, what's the angular size of Phobos as seen from the surface of Mars?

.14 degrees at the horizon, .20 degrees at zenith, about a third of the size of our full moon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobos_%28moon%29#Orbital_characteristics

[Peter B]

Incidentally, what's the angular size of Phobos as seen from the surface of Mars?

.14 degrees at the horizon, .20 degrees at zenith, about a third of the size of our full moon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobos_%28moon%29#Orbital_characteristics

Cool, thank you.

[Peter B]

Okay, finished it last night.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

Although I have a few questions that would act as spoilers. Anybody mind if I post them here, or should I start another thread?

[Peter B]

Okay, no one's said anything, so here goes:

1. The atmosphere on the surface of Mars has 1% of the density of Earth's at sea level. Would any Martian dust storm have enough pressure to blow away an astronaut or tip over a spacecraft?

2. How likely would it have been for Watney's spacesuit to survive so many uses without failure?

3. How realistic is the idea of removing an engine from the Ares 4 MAV? What about the pipes supplying the fuel and oxidiser to the combustion chamber?

4. How realistic was the scenario of using Pathfinder to communicate with the rover?

[BazBear]

rtf

Okay, no one's said anything, so here goes:

1. The atmosphere on the surface of Mars has 1% of the density of Earth's at sea level. Would any Martian dust storm have enough pressure to blow away an astronaut or tip over a spacecraft?

2. How likely would it have been for Watney's spacesuit to survive so many uses without failure?

3. How realistic is the idea of removing an engine from the Ares 4 MAV? What about the pipes supplying the fuel and oxidiser to the combustion chamber?

4. How realistic was the scenario of using Pathfinder to communicate with the rover?

All good questions.

It's just my layman's opinion, but I suspect that Weir found a nice sweet spot between the realities of living on Mars against weaving a classic (yep, I think it is) sci-fi narrative.

Now, I'll get my layman's ass out of the way.

[Peter B]

Incidentally, another issue occurred to me, thanks to remembering reading somewhere something unusual about an Apollo mission.

I think it was on Apollo 16 that one of the crew picked up a rock which had been placed inside the LM, and nearly gave himself a cold burn. The rock had been collected before it had warmed up much, and then chilled while sitting in the shade inside the LM.

In the novel, at one point Watney uses 600 kilograms of rocks as ballast while testing out the rover. One of the aspects of the rover he wanted to test was his jury-rigged heating system. But one thing he never takes into account is the temperature of the rocks. I thought that 600 kg of rocks which had been sitting outside on the surface of a planet at a temperature 10s of degrees below zero (Celsius) would have a significant chilling effect on the air inside the rover, and that it'd take quite a bit of heat for them to warm up, but the issue is never raised, despite these sorts of issues being behind several of the challenges Watney faces.

[Zakalwe]

Incidentally, another issue occurred to me, thanks to remembering reading somewhere something unusual about an Apollo mission.

I think it was on Apollo 16 that one of the crew picked up a rock which had been placed inside the LM, and nearly gave himself a cold burn. The rock had been collected before it had warmed up much, and then chilled while sitting in the shade inside the LM.

Yes, it was John Young.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eInnwg77gbkC&pg=PA167&lpg=PA167&dq=Apollo+16+rock+shadow+cold&source=bl&ots=e4LgyX7NkH&sig=YGpQfkewwiuPQFaoRHiXbWzJ06I&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YwL7VKbtDIL1Urefg_gB&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Apollo%2016%20rock%20shadow%20cold&f=false

[smartcooky]

For those who have read "The Martian", here is an interesting interview with author Andy Weir (warning, contains spoilers).

http://podcasts.scienceforthepeople.ca/episodes/Science_for_the_People_312_Impossible_Space.mp3

The interview is the first half of the 1hr podcast. As a bonus, the second half is the podcast is an interview with Professor Ethal Siegal about the so called "EM" drive.

Enjoy

[LunarOrbit]