Consider you are in an isolated place with limited supply of oxygen and water. You also happen to have a dangerous liquid compound called as “Hydrazine”. You are to survive in this place long enough, with your water supply not estimated to last that much duration. Hydrazine is highly toxic and dangerously unstable but your only source of hydrogen, which can be combined with oxygen to create water. What would you do?
Consider some more facts - Nearest help is 225,300,000 km away. To add to this, no one knows you are alive and trapped in this isolated place. So no one is going to come and rescue you. And we have not even started with problem of food supplies. Quick thinking and improvisation is the key and that’s just what astronaut Mark Watney has to do to keep surviving. Because the isolated place is Mars, and Mark Watney is the only man on this lonely planet.
“I’m pretty much f***ed. That’s my considered opinion. F***ed.”
The story of “The Martian” is set in the near future when inter-planetary travel has just begun, and Watney is an astronaut and member of NASA’s Ares-3 mission - third manned Mars landing. On the 6th day after landing on Mars, due to a series of unfortunate events his crewmates are forced to abandon him during a severe dust storm. They believe he is dead. Now Watney must attempt to survive using only leftover tools and components from the abandoned mission – An array of solar panels, a habitat that doubles up as a lab, two rovers, some spacesuits and some scientific equipment. The storm has knocked out the communications antenna and there is no way he can inform his crew or mission handlers that he is alive. The next manned mission is not scheduled to land for 4 years and Mark has limited amount of essential supplies, not supposed to last that long. Somehow he must survive that long.
“I’m stranded on Mars. I have no way to communicate with Hermes or Earth. Everyone thinks I’m dead. I’m in a Hab designed to last 31 days.
If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death.
So yeah. I’m f***ed.”
Mark Watney does come up with a solution to this matter-of-fact problem and every other problem that comes along. But remember – this is space and all plans are “Mission Critical”. As always, Murphy’s Law imposes itself in every manner possible. Plans go awry, missions go sideways and Mark is required to fight for survival every minute of his existence on the unforgiving planet. This makes for an interesting reading as the best part of the book is dedicated to careful breakdown of each and every problem and the solution to it in a very scientific and mathematical manner. If they can at all be used as verbs, then Mark Watney “Sciences” and “Maths” his way out of each situation.
“It’s a strange feeling. Everywhere I go, I’m the first. Step outside the rover? First guy ever to be there! Climb a hill? First guy to climb that hill! Kick a rock? That rock hadn’t moved in a million years! …
First, first, first!”
Majority of the book is in the form of audio and text log entries by Mark Watney on the mission computer after the fateful incident. To break the monotony of the proceedings and to provide fresh perspectives, author Andy Weir has interspersed these entries with events that happen at NASA as well as on the spaceship “Hermes” which is the return vehicle for the rest of Ares-3 crew. And mind you, these events and characters are not just after thoughts. Each event is well explained and every character is well developed and they play an important role to achieve the ultimate goal – “Bring Mark Watney back to Earth”.
“Just once I'd like something to go to plan, ya know? Mars keeps trying to kill me. Well... Mars and my stupidity keep trying to kill me.”
The author who is a geek in real life (he is a professional software programmer) and Mark Watney by extension, try to concentrate on the positive aspects of the situations and use humor and wit to overcome the negative psychological effects that would otherwise arise out of constantly facing life endangering situation in a hostile environment, devoid of any human contact or social exchange. He does curse and gives up a number of times, but soon composes himself with some quirky one liners. He seems to be a composite character of Chandler from ‘FRIENDS’ and Sheldon from ‘Big Bang Theory’.
“You know what? “Kilowatt-hours per sol” is a pain in the ass to say. I'm gonna invent a new scientific unit name. One kilowatt-hour per sol is... it can be anything... um... I s**k at this... oh f**k it. I'll call it a “pirate-ninja.” ”
This Adventure slash Science-Fiction is part Apollo 13 and part Cast Away, and builds on the strengths of both genres to give us story that will satisfy hard core geeks and nerds and casual readers alike. Do ensure that there is no pending “mission critical” work for you before you pick up this book, because once you start reading, it is un-put-down-able!!!
P.S. The book is being made into a movie, directed by Ridley Scott and Matt Damon in a role that cuts a contrasting figure to his other 'Left alone in space' role in Interstellar.
