The biggest science mistakes in 'The Martian'

'The Martian' has been hailed as one of the best science based sci-fi movies in recent years. However, even with all that factual science behind the film, there were some things the film just got wrong.

[suit]

this video is almost completely wrong

1) dust storms like shown in the movie are indeed impossible on mars since the atmosphere is not dense enough to carry such big particles
2) the MAV, the Rover and the Space Suit are shielded - why would NASA not do that?
3) the communication is not instantaneous - but for the dynamics of the film you can't wait around 15 minutes for a response, the quick chit chat is just for dramaturgy and dynamics - it is way more time consuming and described excessivly in the book
4) surprise? not at all - hydrazine alone is commonly used as mono propellant. hydrazine is broken up into the components by running it through a catalyst - the reaction products have vastly more volume than the liquid hydrazine - if you burn the hydrazine instead, the reaction products have a lower density than that. hydrazine itself is not that flameable or dangerous (beside its toxicity) - you need a strong oxidation agent like nitrogen tetroxide or nitric acid - air/oxygen is not enough.

digging water up is just plain stupid - as you stated by yourself: mars has a very low atmospheric pressure - there is virtually no water

[kgj]

Two things: 1) I felt like it was just "assumed" that their communication was not instantaneous. I thought I remember them specifically referencing a 24 minute gap during the scene with the old machinery dug up from 1997. 2) What he did to create water seems much simpler than digging up frozen water beneath the surface of Mars, does it not???

[JulikaExplica]

However I do have to point out that the water on Mars that Nasa discovered is actually VERY salty water.. So just getting that water and melting it was not an option. Also, the water that was located is restricted to some very specific areas, it could be the case that he was just not close to any martian "river"..

[Shadowkey]

0:46 I would just like to poke a hole in that problem by pointing out that for those 500 days, Mark is living in a base which was presumably designed with solar and cosmic radiation in mind.

[willnord]

and no one mentions Mars' 1/3 gravitational field compared to Earth? This movie did the best it could, and really the only big problem was the wind, but it was really just used as a catalyst for the rest of the film and never messed with again.

[SomeGeezer]

In fact the author knew about these inaccuracies, especially the storm at the beginning and the lack of radiation shielding, but he had to create a plot.

[CharlesRossVP]

Andy Weir took a few years to write this story and in that time NASA developed sciences that outdated some of the science written in the book.  Andy admitted he took writer's licence to beef up the storm in the beginning and he never denied this.  The time difference is mentioned in the movie, and if I was him I certainly wouldn't be drinking Martian water until I had tested it extensively first so even if he was able to retrieve some from the soil it would be too risky to use.  I was quite happy with the process he scienced the shit out of and believe this posting wasn't necessary and a bit unfair.  I was so impressed with this film and believe it to be probably the most believable scifi movie made of our big Red Planet to date.

[Hub]

I took it upon myself to science the shit out of these claims, and came up with this: If we take the movie's "mission abort force" of 7500N (1700lb) and predicted storm force of 8600N (1900lb) at face value I think its plausible to expect such forces from a gusting Martian storm. Looking at a screenshot of the MAV dimensions, it looks like its about 25m tall, with a total cross-sectional area excluding landing legs of 233m^2. Looking at a NASA fact sheet, the density on Mars is .02kg/m^3, and winds can reach constant 30m/s (65mph) speeds in dust storms. Using those numbers and the wind force formula F=density*Area*V^2, a storm with gusts of just 42.5m/s (95mph) on Mars would generate ~8500N on a flat plate with the cross-sectional area of the ascent vehicle. That being said, the same gusting wind would only create ~50lb of force on a human-body-sized area (~1.5m^2), so nothing a slight lean wouldn't solve, but I'd think an antenna dish with a 50lb wind force could pick up the momentum to slam into someone like the movie portrayed. Obviously I cut corners to make the math easy but its not like we're orders of magnitude off on the forces here. In the end you just have to ask yourself if 1900lbf could tip over a 25m tall rocket full of liquid fuel...

[shan.i]

You know that the movie is set slightly in the future right?

[composerdoh]

I haven't seen the film, but in the book they do talk about the enormous lag time in communication with Earth.

[JulikaExplica]

How come you guys don't have a ton more views and

[DanFrederiksen]

iirc it was particularly grievous that a tarp holding in atmospheric pressure was gently flailing in the breeze. that's unforgiveable. and you should have included it here.

[p.e.d]

1. Did you even read the story? It's mentioned multiple times about the delay in response time
2. MAV/Rover/suit/HAB are used to protect him
3. That's seriously the dumbest thing in this video. If you read the novel, you will know how he had to modify the shit out of the Rover just to drive a short distance. And all the resources he needs to use to fit in the Rover for a trip. He can't just drive to somewhere far far away, use his tiny shovel to dig up some ice and bring it back. But even without the novel you can still figure out by common sense and by what's in the movie

[richardmattingly]

The decompression scene was problematic because the only way for the scene to happen would be to open the inner hatch while still at near zero pressure and ride the airlock like a champagne cork. Yet this didnt occur and more over since the inner hatch reminded locked as was the outer one how the massive decompression occurred from inside the air lock doesn't make sense...

[drewtate]

In the book, they did address the messaging thingy.

[BitGridTV]

the very first inaccuracy comes within the first scene.
-remember the sunrise coming up behind the planet?
the sun HAS may be red in the first second or so where the light comes thru mars' atmosphere. but NOT when its 10degrees above the horizon. So when the stars
(that come up the same way like the sun does in the background) are white, the sun has to be white too.

[Ranillon]

The"mistakes" you point out are for the most part non-existent or explained by the fact that the book was written before certain things were known about Mars, particularly the fact that water is more plentiful than we thought.  

When it comes to the shielding the book makes it clear that the Hab and rover have advanced shielding to protect against radiation. Sure, it wasn't mentioned in the movie, but then again why would it be since there would be no reason for Watney to suddenly start monologuing about random facts just to educate the audience.  

Likewise, the movie specifically states that the communication is delayed due to speed of light limitations, but then wisely doesn't actually subject the audience to waiting all those extra minutes just to satisfy some science nerds who noticed this "error" but not that the movie explained it.  

As for the wind storm the author readily admits that isn't accurate, but did it in service of the "man vs. nature" plot.

You clearly know that the movie is based on a novel, but you don't seem to have realized that the novel might go into more details than a movie or that the novel might have been written before certain discoveries about Mars were made. Honestly, this video comes off more as an excuse to vent than something informative since you refuse to take even a little time to properly explain both sides of these points. That in turn makes you look dishonest in the service of falsely pumping up a (minor) scandal to get page views. As a scientific/critical thinking channel you can do better.

[Wallabynge]

Hey, I loved the way you can duck tape a 2m hole, even though the pressure would have exerted 300, 000 kPa, or 300, 000N, or 30, 000 Kg on that area. Maybe assume he is in a 20% pressure pure oxygen environment, common with space vessels, then 6 tons of force, on 5 bits of tape. Special tape! But, would potatoes grow in 20% atmosphere? The evaporation rate goes up. I suppose he had it humidified.

[SwithinFeely]

uhhm ... no

the had is lead reinforced and the text messaging isnt instantaneous its just Ridley making it seem instant

[alexmosteanu]

Ok- first these might be the science mistakes IN THE MOVIE- the book got it right. Including the messages timing.
1. Storm- possible due to varios activities on Mars NOT related to atmospheric pressure
2. Water on Mars- no ubiquitous- has a very long distance to get there and there explanation in the book why the landing was not designed to be there
3. Messages - in the book takes indeed 11 minutes each way (depends on where the earth and mars are in related to eachother)
4. I had to stop watching :)