Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Matt Damon plays Mark Watney in "The Martian" movie based on the book by Andy Weir

Humans will go to Mars. No doubt about it. Stephen Hawking and other scientists want us to go, they say it's the only way to ensure the survival of the human race(or atleast increase the odds of survival). The only questions that remain are : when, and who will be first.
The map of the area where Mark Watney was stranded

Andy Weiner's science fiction novel may as well be a future true story as there is nothing fictional about the science in it. Read the book before watching the movie.
Buy The Martian from Amazon here.


Or, you could just watch the movie first if you follow the logic that the book is ALWAYS better than the movie. Then, you can read the book after the movie and get a more immersive story.

Astronaut Mark Watney is on Mars, on the first human mission there. But due to a storm, they have to evacuate, but Mark does not make it back on time, and the crew see his transmitted vitals showing he's dead. So, they leave to escape the Martian weather.

But Mark is alive and nobody knows that. Leaving him stranded on Mars. Thus, with nobody looking for him, he decides to go the MacGyver way and survive atleast long enough to send a call for help.


Update : Interview of And Weir by Adam savage of Mythbusters

The book was a New York Times bestseller and like all successful books, Hollywood decided its time to make it a movie. Matt Damon plays the lead character 'Mark Watney'. Watch the trailer here :





XKCD, the webcomic also had a comic featuring this movie trailer, where Randall Munroe(a NASA engineer) explains that this movie is for those who like MacGyver stuff - like how they fixed the air scrubbers problem in the true story of Apollo 13. (Apollo 13 is also made into a movie)



Mark's path on Mars
Read the book. An eBook edition is also available. Download it for your Kindle or any eBook reader.
Looks like a review of the book by some Anthony Granger is selling for three times the cost of the original book. Weird world of business !
Note that this is different from "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury.
Bonus Apollo 13 relevant scene of square peg in a round hole

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