The Science of The Martian

Michigan Engineering researchers check the science behind The Martian, the upcoming film adaptation of Andy Weir’s bestselling sci-fi thriller about an astronaut left behind on the Red Planet. U-M engineers and scientists discuss: how bad the dust storms really are on Mars, how it might be possible to grow food there, and how fast Earth could send a rescue mission.

Dust storms: “I think dust is going to be a big problem in the exploration of Mars,” says Nilton Renno, a professor of climate and space sciences and engineering who has studied dust on Mars and Earth. “The winds can pick up a lot of dust. Noon on Mars can be almost as dark as midnight.” However, he contends that Martian storms don’t occur as often as the book says they do.

Growing plants: “Mars is an extremely harsh environment with very cold temperatures and because the atmosphere is so thin and there’s no magnetic field on the whole planet, it’s constantly bombarded by radiation from the sun,” says Ryan Miller, lead engineer in research at U-M’s Space Physics Research Lab, a division of XTRM Labs. Miller says Watney’s greenhouse-like enclosure must have blocked this radiation. He also discusses the soil composition. Miller and others at XTRM Labs are working on an instrument for ESA’s ExoMars rover, set to launch in 2020. The craft will be designed to drill deeper into the soil than other rovers to look for more signs of organics or life.

Rescue mission: Earth and Mars are only relatively close once every 22 months. The quickest we could perform a rescue today would be 6-8 months, says Jon Van Noord, lead mechanical engineer at U-M’s Space Physics Research Lab, a division of XTRM Labs. On one hand, the “ion propulsion” discussed in the story isn’t as futurustic as it sounds. But on the other hand, to generate the amount of force you'd need to set a rocket into motion using ion propulsion, "we'd have to have a fictional nuclear reactor that's beyond what we currently have," Van Noord said.

ABOUT THE RESEARCHERS

[mosh]

Whoa Michigan! Nice video! Love it. Thanks for sharing!

[ryanandrews]

As for rescue time, remember that Andy Weir's spacecraft "Hermes" was on a continuous "Aldrin Cycler" orbit with an Earth/Mars transfer time of about 120 to 250 days, so given that Watney knew that, he knew how long he had to survive into order to be rescued.

The "Rich-Purnell" manoeuvre is a real thing, and Weir did the orbital calculations himself to see if it would work (actually, he did all the orbital calculations for the three different orbits; the original mission orbit, the abort mission orbit after the storm and and the "Rich-Purnell" rescue orbit. Here are the results.

[josepardo]

Hi. I have a project on the movie " The Martians" I wish Perform With My eighth grade students in the field of Biology . My project is to commission a small bathroom 's Studies Groups MISCELLANEOUS : aspects and scenes from the movie and learn students about reality and fiction Every aspect m . At the end of the investigation should make a presentation on the topic that was assigned to them and leave a record in the form of poster, for other students to learn in a pleasant way about the movie. I'd value your help and advice and ask the favor if at all possible supply me some kind of materials in pdf to Work With My Students aged between 11 and 14 years. Thank you

José Pardo (biology teacher)

Hola. tengo un proyecto sobre la película "the martian" que deseo realizar con mis alumnos del octavo grado en la materia de biología. Mi proyecto consiste en encargar a pequeños grupos la investigación sobre diversos aspectos y escenas de la película y que los alumnos aprendan sobre la realidad y la ficción de cada aspecto. Al final de la investigación deben realizar una exposición sobre el tema que les fue asignado y dejar una constancia en forma de un afiche para que otros alumnos aprendan de forma agradable sobre la película. Me gustaría contar con su ayuda y sus consejos, así como pedirles el favor si les es posible suministrarme algún tipo de material en pdf para trabajar con mis alumnos con edades entre los 11 y 14 años. Gracias.