We Will Again Be Considering the Fictional Hermes
"The Martian" is hitting cinemas right most now, and already information technology is existence heralded as one of the most scientifically authentic sci-fi films of all time. Nosotros've seen the movie, and we've got to say, it's astonishing how far we've come since "Armageddon" (shudder). NASA has been and then impressed, they've been using the movie as a marketing campaign for their own, actual manned missions to Mars in the 2030s.
Based on the volume of the aforementioned proper name by Andy Weir, itself praised for its accuracy, director Ridley Scott asked NASA to check the film and ensure everything in it was correct – or as correct as can be. But only how did they exercise? Here we pick through the science in the movie, with the assist of a few experts, to see if "The Martian" is deserving of its accolades.
Be warned, though, there are some spoilers in this post. So if you haven't read the volume or seen the movie nevertheless, continue at your own peril.
The dust storm
Let'due south become the large one out of the style nice and early on: The dust storm that sets everything in motion at the kickoff of the movie is not accurate. Although Mars does get dust storms, the atmospheric pressure level is then low that the wind is negligible, although the dust itself tin be harmful.
This is probably the least scientific part of the movie. But hey, at least it's out of the fashion prissy and early. 20th Century Fox.
"Dust storms certainly practise occur on Mars, they get winds in excess of 100 mph (160 km/h)," Dave Lavery, Program Executive for Solar System Exploration at NASA headquarters and a consultant for the film, told IFLScience. "Just a 100 mph wind on Mars, because the temper is so thin, has the same inertia and dynamic force per unit area down at the surface equally near an 11 mph (xviii km/h) air current on World. It'southward not going to have the sort of free energy to motility large objects the way that is portrayed in the book and the pic."
To be fair, Andy Weir readily admits the dust tempest was used simply to move the plot forth and exit Mark Watney stranded on Mars. But hey, we're not letting him get off scot-complimentary.
Fact or fiction? Fiction
Orbital dynamics
Perhaps one of the best factual aspects of the motion-picture show is the accurateness of the travel fourth dimension between World and Mars. While some scientific discipline fiction films have the characters whizzing from point to point, "The Martian" reveals the brutal reality of spaceflight: It would have about 8 months to get to or from Mars with current applied science.
"This is not just a story, the writer has done real computations," Rudi Schmidt, ESA Project Manager for Mars Express and also a consultant on the moving picture, told IFLScience.
Fact or fiction? Fact
Future manned Mars missions will utilise a constantly orbiting spacecraft akin to Hermes (shown). 20th Century Fox.
Martian soil
In the motion-picture show, afterward condign stranded on the surface, Watney resorts to using a combination of his own excrement, water, and Martian soil to grow potatoes. Only would Martian soil actually be of whatever utilise? Isn't it sterile and expressionless?
"In terms of basic mineral content and chemical content, yes information technology would exist possible to grow plants in Martian soil," said Lavery. "We actually have experiments going on right now using simulated Mars soil, and it indicates that'south a very realistic thought."
Fact or fiction? Fact
Mmm, succulent. 20th Century Fox.
Radiation
Spending any prolonged corporeality of fourth dimension in space, we're talking months or years, runs an increased run a risk of developing a radiation-related sickness, such as cancer. Modernistic astronauts stay in the prophylactic confines of Earth's magnetosphere, while the Apollo astronauts spent just a few days at the Moon.
But on Mars, each Ares crew was spending up to a month on the surface in the movie. It'southward likely that the habitat as depicted in the picture show might exist a bit different on a real future Mars mission; it might be necessary to partly submerge it in the basis, providing natural protection from radiations.
"The reality is I retrieve people volition get hole-and-corner, to protect against radiation from the Sunday," said Schmidt. "The structures will be on the surface, but machines volition be used to protect them with Martian sand."
And what about Watney, who spends more than a yr on the surface, often with nil more his spacesuit for protection? Well, although the radiations levels on Mars are less than expected, it'south possible he would accept considerably increased his risk of cancer, although he was unlikely to have experienced any immediate effects during his stay. We'll telephone call this one a tie.
Fact or fiction? Tie
An actual Martian habitat might demand to be submerged to go along its occupants safety from radiation. 20th Century Fox.
Taking off from Mars
To leave the Red Planet, each Ares crew uses a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV). In the book, it's explained how this plucks marsh gas out of the Martian atmosphere to create fuel. The rocket and then accelerates to an orbital velocity that allows it to rendezvous and dock with the Hermes spacecraft, which and so brings the astronauts back to Earth. Feasible?
At the moment, no. NASA readily admits this is 1 of the biggest obstacles to future Mars missions. They only simply don't know the logistics of taking off from Mars, and all the unknowns that brings with it. Merely recall of taking off from Earth; although there are hundreds of launches every yr, a few now and then end in failure. Mars has xxx% of Earth's gravity and a sizable atmosphere, and then it's not going to exist like shooting fish in a barrel. "Taking off from Mars is one of the biggest problems we're working on right at present," said Lavery.
To find out how it might be done, NASA is planning a sample return mission in the 2020s. The tentative programme at the moment is for the currently unnamed 2020 Mars rover to collect samples and leave them on the surface, which will be picked up past a later lander and launched back to Earth. "That would course our footing for the aforementioned technology and techniques for a human mission," said Lavery.
So this i is fiction for at present – just only because we don't know how to practice it yet.
Fact or fiction? Fiction
Leaving the surface of Mars is a big unknown at the moment. 20th Century Fox.
Tornadoes on Mars
In the moving picture, you might be surprised to see giant tornadoes seemingly tearing upwardly from the surface into the heaven. If the Martian atmosphere is so thin, can it actually class these? Why yes. Yep it can. Sort of.
Mars has tornadoes in the form of grit devils, whirlwinds that whip upwardly debris on the surface. They tin can exist upward to half a mile tall, although still relatively wispy, then they might non look quite as dramatic every bit in the flick. But they are impressive however, and in 2005 the Spirit rover actually managed to capture one in activeness on the surface.
Fact or fiction? Fact
Communicating with Earth
When the communications arrangement at Watney's habitat is destroyed in the (questionable) storm, he has no way to communicate with Globe until he goes to pilfer Pathfinder and Sojourner, the lander and rover that touched down on Mars in 1997. They went silent on the surface after simply a few months, but could Watney really accept repurposed them to make contact with Earth again?
"Theoretically, it would admittedly be possible," said Lavery, and he should know, as he worked on the Pathfinder mission. "The spacecraft has been sitting upwardly there since 1997, and it stopped operating because the batteries finally drained and gave out. But if you replaced them and repowered it, everything else should still be functioning."
Houston, we have a solution.
Fact or fiction? Fact
It's true, Watney would have been able to talk to Globe. 20th Century Play a trick on.
Gravity on Mars
Watney moves in an Globe-like manner on Mars, but in reality the Blood-red Planet has virtually thirty% of the gravity our own planet has, meaning move would be a little different. NASA envisages that the most efficient fashion to walk on Mars will be a gait somewhere between a shuffle and a hop. We can appreciate why it wasn't portrayed this style in the movie, only hey, a win'south a win for fiction.
Fact or fiction? Fiction
The habitat
Pretty accurate. The thought of using an inflatable habitat, which is what is used in "The Martian," is one that is being seriously considered. Indeed, presently an inflatable Bigelow Aerospace module volition be attached to the ISS, and a descendent of that could exist used on Mars. Whether an inflatable habitat could cope with having a flat floor on Mars is another question, every bit inflatable things tend to want to form a brawl, and in the thin Martian atmosphere, the pressure level on a habitat with an Earth-similar environment inside might exist also much. But it'south possible.
Fact or fiction? Fact
Inflatable technology will be key to the future of manned space exploration. 20th Century Fox.
Conclusion
Overall, we score that atv for fact,three for fiction and1 tie. And we've only brushed the surface – in that location were many other things the film got right, including the aesthetics on Mars, the spacesuits, the use of solar panels, the Hermes spacecraft (autonomously from maybe its rotation speed), the life support systems, and then on. On the other hand, there'southward not much else it got wrong, aside from peradventure the speed at which the astronauts go from the Hermes spacecraft into infinite without proper grooming.
Sure, we've picked out a few grievances, but they are minor quibbles. And compared to other movies (*cough* "Armageddon" *cough*), they are trivial. We'd take to say "The Martian" is deserving of its scientific plaudits.
We Will Again Be Considering the Fictional Hermes
Source: https://www.iflscience.com/space/how-accurate-martian-9-things-movie-got-right-and-wrong/