The Martian

The Martian (2015)

1 answered question since 15 Jan '25, 15:22

★★★★☆

(9 votes)

Question: Watney digs up the plutonium and places it in the rover. Why is the rover so cold later after the HAB blows up?

Answer: Watney used the RTG to heat the Rover for the trip to get Pathfinder. When he got back, he re-buried the RTG because he didn't need it while at the Hab (not travelling long distances) - hence the cold scene you noticed. Then later, when he goes on the even longer trip to the Ares 4 MAV, he digs up the RTG a second time and brings it along.

Aerinah

Answer: He used the RTG to warm the rover on his trip to get Pathfinder. Once he returned he buried it again, since it posed a radiation hazard.

Grumpy Scot

I rechecked the book. He did NOT rebury it. In fact, he tore out extra insulation inside the rover so the interior would not get too warm during his upcoming trip to the other landing site. The RTG was, in fact, an integral part of his equipment for the journey. However, by tearing out an appropriate amount of insulation, he pointed out that the heat from the RTG would leak out some during regular operation. But sitting unoccupied for a while, enough heat might have leaked out to make it chilly.

Smokyoak

Answer: Is that mentioned in the book? Don't remember it being mentioned, but I can recheck.

Smokyoak

More for The Martian

Mistakes

Factual error: After Watney patches the blow out of one of the HAB's airlocks with plastic sheeting, tie down straps, and duct tape, he pressurizes the HAB and the plastic sheeting pushes out like an inflated balloon. Assuming the plastic and duct tape would hold this is correct, however the plastic would be much more taut given the pressure difference inside and outside.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The plastic would certainly be flexing in and out because of the pressure of the wind gusts during the storm. We saw earlier that the gusts of the storms were strong enough to blow a suited explorer off their feet and push them across the surface. Let's say that the HAB is pressurized as much as it can be without blowing out of the plastic, tape, and bungees sealing the airlock. A storm gust would still be able to push the flexible plastic in momentarily, and it would pop back out after the gust passed.

The movie took liberties with the physics of Mars. The gusts on Mars wouldn't be able to blow over a person or a spaceship, let alone push them across the surface, but they needed it for the plot. But using the same physics they then have wedded themselves to, it could then be strong enough to cause the plastic to flap, even though in real life it wouldn't. This is more of a deliberate mistake than a factual error since the writers certainly knew what they did didn't match reality.

Except they didn't 'wed' themselves to their fictional physics. Towards the end of the film NASA tells Watney that a flimsy plastic covering on his ascent vehicle will not be dislodged on acceleration to Martian escape velocity because the atmosphere is too thin to cause any problems. That's cheating in anyone's books.

More mistakes in The Martian

Quotes

Mark Watney: I admit it's fatally dangerous, but I'd get to fly around like Iron Man.

More quotes from The Martian

Trivia

Trivia: The secret project created to use the Hermes to return to Mars to rescue Watney was called Project Elrond, a reference from the Lord of the Rings (also used in the original book of The Martian). Mitch Henderson, played by Sean Bean, was an attendee at the Project Elrond meeting. Sean Bean also played Boromir, who was an attendee at the Council of Elrond in the LOTR movie.

Blathrop

More trivia for The Martian

Questions

Question: Why would NASA decide to send a botanist on a mission to Mars? A planet where no plants can grow.

Answer: Part of his job, aside from also being a mechanical engineer, was to use soil taken from Earth to Mars, mix it with Martian soil then grow seeds in it to see how Martian soil is for growing crops. This would be preparing for a longer term mission where growing full crops to feed the crew would be part of the mission.

Answer: Botanists going to mars can study the ground and the dirt so they could make life on mars. Botanists are also helpful due to oxygen in space, he grows plants on the spacecraft for the oxygen that they give off.

More questions & answers from The Martian

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.