Did Mark Watney make it Home from Mars?

Rowan Reynolds, Leah Ashley, Chris Ringrose

Abstract


At the conclusion of the 2015 film ‘The Martian’ astronaut Mark Watney cuts a hole in his space suit, and uses the escaping air as a mini thruster in order to make it to his rescuers. This paper finds that the air would not provide enough force to propel Watney with enough acceleration to make it home.


Keywords


Film; Physics; Mechanics; The Martian; Mark Watney

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References


th Century Fox (2016) The Martian. Director: Ridley Scott. Released 2 October 2015.

Bennett, J (2015) How Accurate Is 'The Martian'? [Internet]. Outside Online. Available at: http://www.outsideonline.com/2023396/how-accurate-martian [Accessed 10/03/2016]

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Wall, M. (2015) Inside 'The Martian': Movie's Sleek Spacesuits Explained [Internet]. Space.com. Available at: http://www.space.com/30695-the-martian-movie-spacesuit-design.html [Accessed 10/03/2016]

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