The Martian [SPOILERS]

[Fabri91]

*snip*

But does the hab have to be pressurized at a full 1 atm, especially after the emergency repair?

Though the oxygen/nitrogen percentages seen in a scene would indicate a 1-atm pressure...

 

[Andy44]

Apollo used low-pressure oxygen-only atmo, so they could suit up and go for a swim at a moment's notice. Also, even if you are using ISS-type atmosphere, it may be possible to build a better spacesuit that doesn't suffer from ballooning. Hasn't been done yet, but that sort of speculative tech is believable enough for me to let it pass.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

But does the hab have to be pressurized at a full 1 atm, especially after the emergency repair?

Though the oxygen/nitrogen percentages seen in a scene would indicate a 1-atm pressure...

If they are constantly going out on EVAs, then keeping the hab at a lower pressure pure O2 atmosphere probably makes some sense, except that flammability goes way up when you exceed 20% O2. The thermal mass of inert gases is very important in suppressing flammability, and if you need 0.2 atm partial pressure of O2 to live, well, that basically forces total pressure to rise.

If you asked every engineer at NASA what the worst scenario for the Hab was, they’d all answer “fire.” If you asked them what the result would be, they’d answer “death by fire.”

Even if you could go pure O2, does reducing the pressure from 15 psia to 20% of that (3 psi) make the plastic and duct tape hab repair any less ridiculous? No, not really. Still 30,000 lbs on a big hole covered with cheap plastic and duct tape - popped hab. Still bugs me.

 

[Lmoy]

Even if you could go pure O2, does reducing the pressure from 15 psia to 20% of that (3 psi) make the plastic and duct tape hab repair any less ridiculous? No, not really. Still 30,000 lbs on a big hole covered with cheap plastic and duct tape - popped hab. Still bugs me.

To be fair, he did use a lot of duct tape :lol:

On that topic though, what, based on what was available to him at the time, could he have used to seal the hole? Maybe part of the blown airlock?

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Well, the book handled it with "hab canvas" (i.e. magic cloth) and "resin" (i.e. crazy awesome glue). Perhaps still a stretch, but better than 6-mil plastic and duct tape. It could have been hand-waved better, that's all I'm saying.

But what bothers me most about the book and movie is...why the heck didn't Watney bring his own music to Mars? I bet he was into metal...:headbang:

 

[Donamy]

Maybe he could have piled alot of dirt and rocks, to help the plastic hold the pressure ?

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Maybe he could have piled alot of dirt and rocks, to help the plastic hold the pressure ?

Maybe, but then you have the potential of an unbalanced avalanche into the hab. You'd have to somehow apply the dirt evenly and bring up the pressure incrementally. The angle of repose of soil helps somewhat, but I think you'd need a rigid flat panel to hold things until it was all backfilled and the hab pressurized.

 

[Andy44]

I want to see how they get that hab and the MAV and all that cool stuff down to the surface in the first place. I'm sure it'll be done in an Orbiter add-on soon enough...

 

[Cairan]

Okay, a lot of you guys have already chimed in ... just saw it tonight.


In my opinion:

Take the best of Interstellar, the best of Gravity, the Apollo 13 can-do attitude, some Mythbuster DIYness, a few strokes of Cast Away, some good humor at key points, and you end up with the exact opposite of Mission to Mars: A ing great hard sci-fi movie!

Speaking of which, I found the profanities quite relevant at key moments, albeit not believable in the sense of making NASA look bad ... of course data streams from Mars would be "cleaned" and/or tape-delayed for immediate public broadcasting or publishing...

---------- Post added at 11:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:28 PM ----------

Yes, we have ammonia for pH balancing and hydrazine as an oxygen scavenger. As soon as "they" can find something that works as well as hydrazine; it'll be done away with.

/me holds his breath, because he's been hearing that for more than 15 years.

"They"... Who's "They"? :shifty:

Sorry. Wrong Matt Damon movie.

 

[Donamy]

Do you think he ever ate potatoes again ?

 

[Andy44]

Do you think he ever ate potatoes again ?

Not without the drugs!

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Or catsup/ketchup.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Do you think he ever ate potatoes again ?

Not without some preparation of some sort. Probably won't eat a baked potato for many years, though.:lol:

 

[Quick_Nick]

Not without some preparation of some sort. Probably won't eat a baked potato for many years, though.:lol:

He'll just mash them... not to eat them or anything. Just mash 'em.

 

[Andy44]

I think after coming back from a multi-year near-death survival experience on Mars eating only boiled potatoes grown in human poo, some fresh McDonald's french fries would hit the spot, followed a few hours later by a pizza and a six pack, while sitting in a park under a beautiful blue sky overlooking a blue river under green trees and gulping in actual breathable air with wind blowing in my hair, and watching girls walk by, actual girls, not pictures on a NASA laptop or the same 2 astronaut women I had to look at for the last however many months it took me to get back here on the Hermes. I would never listen to disco again, but I'd have headphones on with some Miles Davis.

But that's just me.

 

[ISProgram]

Actors who tend to have to eat the same food over and over again while making multiple cuts of the same scene tend to show distaste towards eating that food again, even when filming's all over.

Also worth noting that they rarely actually even eat the food; the minute the filming is done, they usually spit it out at the first opportunity.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Not without the drugs!

That was a great scene.

 

[francisdrake]

Somebody ever tried potatoes with Vicodin?
This drug is not popular in Europe. Still, I guess I will stick with Heinz ketchup for the time being.

 

[Andy44]

I can't imagine powdered drug pills would add much in the way of taste to potatoes. Aspirin tends to taste like butt if you leave it in your mouth too long before swallowing it, for example.

On the other hand, drug abuse is not illegal on Mars, although it might be against his employer's policy.

Then again, didn't they have a memorial service for him and declare him deceased? I bet he had a heck of a time getting his pay straightened out once he returned home.

 

[Cairan]

One point which was not mentioned in the plot ... What happened to his IRS fillings?