Stupidity: Very soon after Damon is stranded, one of the many satellites around Mars inevitably picks up the fact that he has moved various objects around his site, indicating that he's still alive. Yet it never occurs to him that this would obviously, eventually happen. In which case, his best option would be to simply spell out a message with debris and stay put instead of planning some 50-day journey.
The Martian (2015)
1 stupidity
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Matt Damon, Jeff Daniels, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara
Factual error: When the crew is walking around the area of the Hermes with artificial gravity created by spinning the ship, the angle of the crew members' bodies should be perpendicular to the curved floor of the ship. However, in multiple shots, the crew standing at different locations of the room are seen standing at the same angle, directly upright.
Mark Watney: I don't want to come off as arrogant here, but I'm the best botanist on the planet.
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.
Question: Why would NASA decide to send a botanist on a mission to Mars? A planet where no plants can grow.
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.
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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.