Check out this awesome concept art from The Martian – originally shared via http://bit.ly/TheRaceToSpace.

Written by Jenny

Started off as just journal entries on Andy Weir’s personal blog (super old school), ‘The Martian’ turned into a mega-hit novel. Andy’s passion for science shines through the story with the realism of science and technologies in ‘The Martian’.  The movie adaption by Ridley Scott to be become one of the science fiction movies where the movie did the book justice.  

The story follows a witty, clever astronaut, Mark Watney, in his quest to survive the inhospitable Martian life and return to Earth. The movie is much more than just an adventure as his humour and charm keeps you feel invested in the story, even through the most serious and deadly of times. This is true for both the book and the movie.

The science and technologies in the movie and film may not be perfect but it’s as close to real technologies as movies get. Check out 9 real NASA Technologies in ‘The Martian’ here.  

***Be warned! There may be some spoilers in this post, continue reading at your own discretion.***

Mark’s intelligence isn’t the only thing that kept him going on the red planet. Yes, he was brilliant. But that’s half the story. No amount of genius would prepare you for sheer bad luck.  I mean, he could could have given up because if the oxygenator broke and he had no parts to fix it, he would die. If Hermes didn’t return, he would die. If he couldn’t get the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG), he could be killed by the laws of thermodynamics. Throughout the story he didn’t give up or give into what everyone else on Earth thought, inevitable, death. It takes a special kind of mindset to colonise Mars with his own faeces.

The story reminds us of times when we are solving problems that seem impossible.

Solve one problem, then the next. If you solve enough problems, you get to come home.

#MondayMotivation TheMartian http://bit.ly/MartianBluray

The best part of the story is probable nature of travelling to Mars. Don’t expect all the science to be true as the best part of science fiction is the fiction part (the plot moving dust storm, the exaggerated consequence of leakage from the RTG ).

If you enjoy Mark’s character and the science in the movie, definitely pick up the book. The book showcases more of his witty personality as well as going through his thinking process as he ‘sciences’ his way out of one problem.

Thanks for reading.

– Sci-fi fanatic Goat Jenny