Why couldnt the crew land on mars to pick Mark Watney up?
In the movie "The Martian", why couldn't the crew land on Mars to pick Watney up?
Best Answer
While there are several vessels available to both Mark and the Ares III crew, there are a number of reasons why the 5 crew of the Ares III mission couldn't just land and get Mark Watney:
The remaining crew are aboard the Hermes. The Hermes doesn't have the Thrust to Weight Ratio (TWR) to either land or launch from Mars. Hermes is designed to travel vast distances with a low thrust, high ISP ion engine. It's acceleration (according to the book- it's not actually stated in the movie) is 3mm/s/s.
Then there's the MDV (Mars Descent Vehicle), it's what the Ares III crew used to land on Mars. It remains on Mars, but with no fuel.
Then there's the Ares III MAV. The crew used that to launch from Mars. Technically they left it in orbit, but it doesn't have any fuel left (also, it's in orbit).
Finally, there's the Ares IV MAV. It has some fuel, but it's thousands of KM away from the Ares III site.
The next problem is speed. The Hermes (along with the Ares III crew) is going really fast. And as stated earlier, the Hermes doesn't change speed fast. It normally takes months for it to slow down enough to enter Mars orbit and because of the Earth slingshot, it's moving faster than ever.
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Why did the crew leave Mars the Martian?
The crew is forced to leave him thinking he died due to rupture in his space suit. However Mark survives and now has to find ingenious ways to make it till the next scheduled Mars mission fours years later with the remaining meagre supplies.How did Mark Watney survive on Mars?
On Mars, Watney can't just step outside for a breath of fresh air To survive, he has to carry his own supply of oxygen everywhere he goes. But first he has to make it. In his Hab he uses the \u201coxygenator,\u201d a system that generates oxygen using the carbon dioxide from the MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) fuel generator.What are the challenges that Mark Watney faced during his stay on Mars?
The first major problem Watney faces is getting stranded and wounded on Mars. The second problem Watney faces is how he is going to survive on mars till help can come. The final problem he faces is how is he going to get to the Ares, so he can leave Mars.What happened to the crew in the Martian?
In the end, Watney and his dedicated crew members all returned back to Earth safely. The Martian takes place in a world (or rather, worlds) more advanced than our own. Currently, we can only send robots to Mars, and human-piloted missions are at least a decade away.The Martian | Going back to Mars to get Watney | Bring him Home
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