The Martian...if anything like the book..it's not to be missed.

iamwhatiseem

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The book was one of the best fiction books I read in the past few years.
This should be better than Interstellar or Gravity, and they were pretty good.
Not real excited Matt Damon as the lead...maybe he can pull it off, not real sure he can.
Think Tom Hanks in "Castaway"...he will have to be that good in order to fufill the destiny of the book. Not sure he has the ability to pull that off.

At any rate - this will be one not to miss.
 
The book was one of the best fiction books I read in the past few years.
This should be better than Interstellar or Gravity, and they were pretty good.
Not real excited Matt Damon as the lead...maybe he can pull it off, not real sure he can.
Think Tom Hanks in "Castaway"...he will have to be that good in order to fufill the destiny of the book. Not sure he has the ability to pull that off.

At any rate - this will be one not to miss.

You should see "Priest Lurking" and "Catholic Boys After Dark".
 
I just finished the audiobook of The Martian.

Holy shit, this is a good book, in an empty calorie brain candy kind of way. The audiobook is award-worthy, too. There are good readers and bad readers. R.C. Bray is an outstanding reader.

Just as an aside, do you know who else is an outstanding audiobook reader? David Ogden Stiers.

Take a moment. You know that name. You just can't remember where.

Charles Emerson Winchester. Yeah, that guy. Kickass book reader.


Anyway, I usually take my time with audiobooks, but since the movie was just released, I downloaded this book on Thursday and just finished it this morning. I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie.

Now I can't wait to see the movie.

During the third manned exploration of Mars, a sandstorm hits, forcing the team to evacuate and head home. During the storm, though, one of the team is killed and is left behind.

Only he wasn't killed.

Robinson Crusoe slash MacGyver on Mars. With attitude.

Other than the flaws about the sandstorm itself, the science of this book is incredible. The author knows his stuff, and did an amazing job.

Read this book! Then see the movie.

"Gay probe coming to save me. Got it."
 
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What do you mean no-one has been to Mars?' Scores of people believe blockbuster movie The Martian is based on a true story
  • New movie The Martian tells the story of an astronaut abandoned on Mars
  • As most people know, humankind has never set foot on the Red Planet
  • But dozens who watched the film thought it was based on a true story
  • One tweeted: 'Sometimes I'm smart, and sometimes I Google "is The Martian based on a true story"
  • Sci-fi flick has been praised for being almost entirely scientifically accurate

Read more: Scores of people believe The Martian is based on a true story
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
 
On your say-so, I just bought in on my kindle.

Well, actually, its free but hoping its a good read.
 
8 Tips for Surviving on Mars from Andy Weir
So you want to live on Mars. Perhaps it’s the rugged terrain, beautiful scenery, or vast natural landscape that appeals to you. Or maybe you’re just a lunatic who wants to survive in a lifeless barren wasteland. Whatever your reasons, there are a few things you should know:

1: You’re going to need a pressure vessel.

Mars’s atmospheric pressure is less than one percent of Earth’s. So basically, it’s nothing. Being on the surface of Mars is almost the same as being in deep space. You better bring a nice, sturdy container to hold air in. By the way, this will be your home forever. So try to make it as big as you can.

2: You’re going to need oxygen.

You probably plan to breathe during your stay, so you’ll need to have something in that pressure vessel. Fortunately, you can get this from Mars itself. The atmosphere is very thin, but it is present and it’s almost entirely carbon dioxide. There are lots of ways to strip the carbon off carbon dioxide and liberate the oxygen. You could have complex mechanical oxygenators or you could just grow some plants.

3: You’re going to need radiation shielding.

Earth’s liquid core gives it a magnetic field that protects us from most of the nasty crap the sun pukes out at us. Mars has no such luxury. All kinds of solar radiation gets to the surface. Unless you’re a fan of cancer, you’re going to want your accommodations to be radiation-shielded. The easiest way to do that is to bury your base in Martian sand and rocks. They’re not exactly in short supply, so you can just make the pile deeper and deeper until it’s blocking enough.

4: You’re going to need water.

Again, Mars provides. The Curiosity probe recently discovered that Martian soil has quite a lot of ice in it. About 35 liters per cubic meter. All you need to do is scoop it up, heat it, and strain out the water. Once you have a good supply, a simple distillery will allow you to reuse it over and over.

5: You’re going to need food.

Just eat Martians. They taste like chicken.

6: Oh, come on.

All right, all right. Food is the one thing you need that can’t be found in abundance on Mars. You’ll have to grow it yourself. But you’re in luck, because Mars is actually a decent place for a greenhouse. The day/night cycle is almost identical to Earth’s, which Earth plants evolved to optimize for. And the total solar energy hitting the surface is enough for their needs.

But you can’t just grow plants on the freezing, near-vacuum surface. You’ll need a pressure container for them as well. And that one might have to be pretty big. Just think of how much food you eat in a year and imagine how much space it takes to grow it.

Hope you like potatoes. They’re the best calorie yield per land area.

7: You’re going to need energy.

However you set things up, it won’t be a self-contained system. Among other things, you’ll need to deal with heating your home and greenhouse. Mars’s average daily temperature is -50C (-58F), so it’ll be a continual energy drain to keep warm. Not to mention the other life support systems, most notably your oxygenator. And if you’re thinking your greenhouse will keep the atmosphere in balance, think again. A biosphere is far too risky on this scale.

8: You’re going to need a reason to be there.

Why go out of your way to risk your life? Do you want to study the planet itself? Start your own civilization? Exploit local resources for profit? Make a base with a big death ray so you can address the UN while wearing an ominous mask and demand ransom? Whatever your goal is, you better have it pretty well defined, and you better really mean it. Because in the end, Mars is a harsh, dangerous place and if something goes wrong you’ll have no hope of rescue. Whatever your reason is, it better be worth it.


From Booklist

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EMXBDMA/?tag=ff0d01-20
 
Saw the movie this weekend. Well worth the price of admission.

Although some of Watney's wiseassery came through in the movie, it was not conveyed as much as it was in the book. And they left out the best laugh line, which I included in my first post in this topic.

Watney's mechanical genius was also not conveyed thoroughly in the movie, either. He had to solve a shitload of problems in the book.

The book is always better, of course. If you have not read the book, you won't know the difference. I took some people with me who had not read the book, and they were enthralled and on the edges of their seats during the entire movie.

And I gotta say the scenes of Jessica Chastain zipping around in zero gravity were yummy. I'm not usually into redheads, but...wowza!
 
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is there any difference from Gravity ot Interstellar? Seems like these movies quit similar with one plot and in one mood.
 

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