Question: The ship is hit by a solar flare. But in that case shouldn't Earth advise them about the solar flare incoming? It is supposed that the Sun is constantly watched for solar flares, in case a human mission is en route. Shouldn't mission control on Earth be watching for any unusual solar activity to advise the crew? And they could warn them with time because radio waves go faster than solar flares.
Question: In the movie, AMEE is shown to have various settings, such as 'Navigaton' and 'Military'. It is also stated that AMEE is on loan from the marines. My question is, before giving her to the crew of Mars-1, why didn't the marines remove the the military part of her programming? What possible use could it have been to the crew?
Chosen answer: It was disabled. The part of her program that was in effect was merely the survival instinct, given to it so it could protect itself.
Question: What exactly are those little bug things on Mars and how do they produce oxygen?
Chosen answer: They aren't given a name. They act like plants, except instead of absorbing carbon dioxide and expelling it as oxygen, they eat plants and release oxygen from their bodies. It's probably more effective than using plants since they weren't expecting to be able to breathe on the surface.
Question: Originally all 6 crew members were initially going down to check on Mars oxygen level (including Carrie Ann Moss) but she had to stay behind to manually orbit the 5 guys out. How were they all planning to make it back to their spaceship if she had tagged along in the first place?
Answer: The ship (Mars-1) was hit by a solar flare that damaged several systems including the launch system (which is why Moss Bowman had to stay behind to launch the MEV [Mars Entry Vehicle.] manually). The MEV's guidance system was also damaged, causing it to crash and resulting in further damage. So all going well, Bowman and Santen would have piloted the MEV there and back, but due to the flare they had to find another way back to the ship.
Question: Why does AMEE prolong the death of the crew? Why not kill them all the minute they try and remove her power source?
Chosen answer: At first, she's assessing the threat level. After she determines them to be a threat, she then decides how to eliminate them. She decides on guerilla warfare because she can fare better in the environment than humans can. She was damaged, so if she tried to attack them all at the same time, she would likely lose the battle.
Question: Where specifically on Mars did the crew land?
Answer: It's never really specified, upon entering the atmosphere they suffer a mechanical failure which throws them off course.
Answer: The ship is not hit by a solar flare, it is hit by a gamma ray burst. It is a completely different, much more violent phenomena.
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