A Scientific Analysis of Andy Weir’s, The Martian
Andy Weir, a computer programmer from California, published a book titled The Martian in early 2014. In the book, protagonist Mark Watney is left on Mars and the author is faced with the challenge of imagining what it would be like to be stranded on another planet and how he might have survived. On reddit.com, Andy Weir himself states that his research conducted of mostly google search pages and only a small amount of the knowledge he used to write the book did he know before hand. (Weir) This may call into question the validity of his research. The question this essay will answer is not if Weir did research, but rather if the research he did was accurate. This essay will analyze two of the main survival methods Watney used to see if the two would, in fact, work in a Martian environment.…show more content… To test this, the caloric makeup of one full ration must be determined. According to multiple websites, most notably nasa.gov, “Each astronaut’s caloric intake [has been] 2,800 calories a day [on recent space missions].” (NASA) After doing the math, Watney must be surviving on a mere 2100 calories per day. The question that must be asked is is that enough to sustain his level of activity without starving? The book states, on page 17, that Watney needs to consume 1500, and he would still starve a little. It is vital to note that this number does not include calories allotted for physical labor. However, in late 2012, NASA conducted a study to compare the caloric needs of both men and women and their results are as