This renewed production will help NASA further its plans for deep-space exploration, including missions to Mars. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is re-establishing its capability to produce plutonium-238. It’s also an ideal way for Watney to keep warm. It is an ideal power source for missions that are too far from the sun to use solar power.
Martian movie portable#
His solution is to use a radioisotope thermal generator, or RTG, as a portable heat source.Īn RTG contains approximately 4.8 kilograms of plutonium-238 dioxide and works by transforming the heat from the decay of the radioactive isotope into electricity.
One of Watney's biggest survival challenges is how he’ll stay warm during the sub-zero Martian nights. Presumed dead, Astronaut Mark Watney - played by Matt Damon - survives the violent storm and must find a way to subsist on the barren planet until a rescue is possible. An unexpected weather event forces the research team to evacuate the planet and leave one of their own behind in the process. “The Martian” begins with a crew of NASA astronauts on a mission to explore Mars. But in “The Martian,” a very real technology helps keep a very made-up astronaut alive on the Red Planet. Ultimately, I think you'll enjoy them both more if you read first and watch second, but-to quote another proponent of reading-you don't have to take my word for it.It’s rare for a work of science fiction to contain much science fact. If you don't choose to read the book, I really do think you're missing out on something special. Maybe it'll even help convince people that NASA and scientific research is worthwhile, part of an important bigger picture. It's a truly optimistic story that's still grounded and human. Better still, for all its positive messages about science and global harmony, The Martian isn't cheesy or saccharine sweet. How often do we get to experience that? Not very. And it's about science and human decency bringing the whole world together to work peacefully toward a solution. It's about good and brave people doing their best against the odds, and remaining hopeful in the face of awful circumstances.
This is a story about people working together toward a common goal.
Martian movie movie#
What both the book and the movie do accomplish is something truly special. The movie only offers up a little under two and a half hours of suspense. Things are constantly going wrong for Watney, and he never stops surprising us with his cleverness and his incredibly upbeat attitude in the face of enormous danger.īetter still, you'll get to remain in suspense for hours and hours if you read the book first. I assume this was because of time and money, and it's totally understandable.īut man, you miss out on some great moments. Some of my favorite stuff-or, rather, some of the most gripping drama in the novel-was simply cut. Probably my biggest gripe with the movie was how much of the latter half of the book's obstacles were simply cut altogether. There's not only more conflict and more crazy things going wrong, there are more detailed and fleshed out solutions. But you're going to get a lot more humor in the book.Īlong similar lines, Watney's challenges in the book are much greater than in the film. To its credit, even the humor changed and added to the film worked and felt true to the novel. And inside Watney's head is a pretty hilarious place to be. Mostly, though, it's because we spend so much time in Watney's head. Partly this is just because it's a longer experience, with more room for the jokes. The book, on the other hand, has lots more laughs. The film does a great job making Watney a real character with a wide range of emotions-maybe even better than the novel. It's what keeps the tension and worry from overtaking us as viewers.īut the book is even funnier. But if you read it first, you'll simply know a lot more about what's going on than if you just watch Scott's adaptation. You get the "lite" version in the film, which is really for the best since we don't have eight hours to watch the movie. It's science made entertaining, and it's a lot of fun.
It's great for the film, but the book simply delves so much deeper into the science.Īnd not just with Watney, but back at NASA and throughout the book. In the film, Watney is just a botanist, and we see a lot more of his botany than we do his engineering. These two things both help him enormously over the course of the story. Watney is a botanist and a mechanical engineer.
In the book, each of the Ares 3 astronauts has two jobs because they're not only really brave, they're highly educated. The main character in The Martian is Mark Watney.