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TheBroadHorizon t1_j16tnym wrote

Reply to comment by Trashleopard in Perseverance sample tube drop by coffeesam

Since the atmosphere on Mars is so much thinner than on earth, the wind has very little kinetic energy. It's not going to be able to move anything larger than particles of dust or sand. I am curious about how quickly dust might accumulate and cover it though, since it's going to be 8-10 years before the retrieval mission arrives.

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Myriachan t1_j17v27l wrote

The event that starts the story of “The Martian” was bogus on its face.

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RSomnambulist t1_j18xc1y wrote

Weird it was based on so much research but that's the central moment that gets everything rolling. I haven't read the book to know if it's the same. Off the top of my head, they could have done a freak marsquake centralized at the ship that forced them to leave rapidly while Mark was out on research. Wouldn't have looked as cool on screen.

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wgp3 t1_j190byu wrote

He used the same premise in the book. He also regrets using that premise because it isn't accurate at all. But at the time I don't think he knew how inaccurate it was or he just couldn't write a better scenario. Can't remember. He's talked about it though.

Definitely should read the book. There's a lot more details that really get you experiencing the struggles in a way the movie couldn't convey. Movie was still solid.

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Sammy81 t1_j19shdj wrote

He doesn’t regret it, and he knew the facts when he wrote it. He said it was just a choice he made for dramatic effect and to get the book going. It’s hard to think of a scenario where astronauts would leave behind one of their own, so he invented one.

I tried to make the book as accurate as I could. The biggest place that’s inaccurate – don’t tell anybody – but if you’re in a dust storm on Mars, you’re not even going to feel it. Mars’ atmosphere is less than one percent of Earth’s. So a 150-km/hour wind would feel like about a 1-km/hour wind does on Earth. It wouldn’t do any damage to anything. Shhh …Most people don’t know how Martian dust storms work, that it’s not like being in a sandblaster. It’s just more dramatic that way. So I just made that concession. [shrugs and smiles] I know I’m a liar. I just … wanted that.

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StrangeTangerine1525 t1_j1jug0y wrote

Which would be wrong though. Density wise the Martian atmosphere is closer to 2% the density it is on Earth, but wind would still exert roughly 1/9 the force it would here on Earth, not counting low gravity. A 60 mph wind on Mars (fastest average windspeed in a dust storm) would feel like a 7 mph wind on Earth, and could pick up things similar to a 20 mph wind because of the lower gravity. Still probably not enough to pick up a metal tube filled with rock though.

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DirtSetherson t1_j19157e wrote

From how I understand it from interviews he began writing the book without realising his mistake and only later did his team of fact checkers realise and by then it was too late. Its still one of the best pieces of science fiction ever so in fine with it

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JesusIsMyZoloft t1_j1a9dyd wrote

The book is the same. And he knew it was unrealistic. He even considered an alternate opening, where the MAV malfunctions. He figured he had been so accurate everywhere else, that he could afford one mistake. It was a Man vs Nature story, and he wanted Nature to have the first punch.

(The one other inaccuracy he admitted to was the radiation on the surface of Mars. Watney likely would have gotten cancer before he was even rescued. In the book, he said that there was radiation shielding in the Hab and the spacesuits, but nothing that could block radiation would have fit in so thin a material.)

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RSomnambulist t1_j1b3z0l wrote

Right. He would have had to have been underground. That would have been a great additional thing to make him do. Have to use geologists sampling tools to dig under the HAB. Could see that being a fun twist.

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orincoro t1_j19v0c1 wrote

The wind has been found to generally uncover things from time to time. The soil on the surface is so dry and fine that it takes a very long time for dust sediment to “settle” or harden, as it would on earth due to moisture condensing from the air. Mars has very little frost, no significant organic decay of minerals, so there is not as much tendency for things to get buried.

Basically all that life and moisture on earth makes everything kind of sticky. Mars is far less “sticky.” Something can be covered up, only to be completely uncovered again as the wind continues.

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