THE MARTIAN | Science vs Cinema

In our pilot episode we look at the new Ridley Scott film "THE MARTIAN" starring Matt Damon.
How accurate was the science? We examine every scientific subject including Getting Your Ass to Mars, Martian Weather & Gravity, Rover Technology, Mark Watney as the MacGyver of Mars, and the film's portrayal of NASA astronauts and scientists.
We went to the World Premiere of the film at the Toronto International Film Festival and talked to Director RIDLEY SCOTT, Author ANDY WEIR, Screenwriter DREW GODDARD, and stars MATT DAMON, JEFF DANIELS and MACKENZIE DAVIS.
We also visited NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and got their take on the film, including interviews Astronaut DREW FEUSTEL, Director of Planetary Science JIM GREEN, and Mars Researchers CARRIE BRIDGE, MATTHEW HEVERLY and KATIE STACK-MORGAN.

[@mavoc3094]

2:39 "We know more about Mars than ever before." Well I damn well hope we don't know less than we used to.

[@darwin5117]

Fun fact, the Egyptians had acc been to Mars

[@anomalocaristheabnormalshr3248]

@@darwin5117 hmm

[@AC-hj9tv]

​@@darwin5117true.i was there bro

[@Ascii89]

Fun fact, the more you know about something the more you realize how little you actually know.

[@Archon1995]

Something which struck me immediately was how every member of the Hermes crew was just as amazing as Watney in finding ways to solve problems. Using the lander's maneuvering jets during the dust storm, making a bomb out of supplies on the Hermes...every time they find a way, some way, to solve a problem, usually when they don't have the luxury of time to think it over.

[@anxiousanxiousaur]

"You can definitely tell there's a hill-kind-of-thing." - Astrophysicist

[@Vg-nu4fq]

He is not a geologist.

[@Avinav13]

this is what i love about nasa, the fact that they share their info so freely; it's bound to inspire someone

[@Avinav13]

@SFF Author B.L. Alley just because they're unknown doesn't mean they're not inspired, no?

[@Avinav13]

@SFF Author B.L. Alley how so? im curious...

[@Avinav13]

@SFF Author B.L. Alley oh, ok...i was simply referring to the fact that they release (have to under public domain laws) any pictures taken by satellites to the populace, through their website.

[@Avinav13]

@SFF Author B.L. Alley no worries, bud. you did get me thinking. Cheers :)

[@momsspaghetti9970]

Except the flat earthers and conspiracy theorists

[@brianhchan]

The writer already stated over and over that the dust storm wouldn't really do anything but he needed something to basically to happen to cause the mission failure. Also he had to come up with futuristic radiation shielding.

[@jayyarm]

As an ex-aerospace engineer, what got me most was something entirely extraneous to the story and a totally avoidable error: everything was designed too damn heavy! Huge windows, high ceilings, lots of empty space. Even the plastic crates that Matt hauls around on Mars look like they are 1/2 inch thick and solid. And, to top it off, the ship's gym had more space between the machines than my local gym on earth. In space, every ounce counts and costs - the orbital payload of a chemical rocket is around 5% of the takeoff weight, so every extra pound takes 19 to deliver.

[@alkh3myst]

Have you ever noticed the gigantic interiors of movie submarines? Bigger than five-star hotels...

[@SWalker71]

Jeff Daniels: I didn’t read the book, didn’t talk to any experts. Showed up, said my lines, got paid and I’m OK with that.

[@philiplongee1149]

It showed. He came off as a jerk. I was surprised that no one at NASA didn't complain how a heartless and smug government wonk was more concerned about his job than the life of a lonely astronaut. Oh they they didn't see anything wrong? My mistake.

[@CraigTrader]

@@philiplongee1149 No, they didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

[@nercksrule]

@@philiplongee1149 Lol you've got the character all wrong. Jeff Daniels' character was more worried about the longevity of human spaceflight than the life of a single astronaut. The optics of finding out we left a man behind is worse than Watney being dead. He was being pragmatic. There's nothing wrong with being bright-eyed and hopeful, that'll work great for you... until the first fatal mistake occurs.

[@DougHanchard]

@@philiplongee1149 NASA did have a dark period of leadership during the Space Shuttle era. It failed to maintain quality control culture and had excessive top down micromanagement. The result was the destruction of Challenger and Columbia.

[@sebasmartinsm]

I love the concept of the suits. Mars has an atmospheric composition of about 95 percent co2. So we could possibly ditch the bulky Eva suits for a suit that could convert co2 to oxygen. Thus making the suits very compact. If you noticed the movie features an actual Eva suit possibly suggesting they took that into account.

[@Wild_Bill57]

Sorry man, the atmosphere is so thin, that there isn’t enough or enough pressure to breathe. It’s like 0.001 atmospheres

[@sebasmartinsm]

@Wild Bill57 generating pressure differentials is something humanity has been doing for hundreds of years and the only way to make a sustainable habitat on Mars would be to use co2 conversion so your statement here is inaccurate. When it comes to breathing supply the volume of the entire system is far more important than the psi of a single part. Humans can actually breathe 18% o2 atmosphere at 8 psi without any ill effects

[@sebasmartinsm]

@Wild Bill57 but we would want to keep the pressure closer to 9 to 10 psi depending on o2 concentration but it would not be difficult to generate those kinds of pressures

[@666Tomato666]

@12:30 "boring video game" what?! That's exactly what you do in Kerbal Space Program, and it's _awesome_

[@15Redstones]

666Tomato666 KSP got time warp

[@vanguard616]

15 Redstones you don't *have* to use it

[@Lrofmaulol]

Ksp also doesn't have up to 20 minutes of input lag. Unless you use mods but OH GOD WHY

[@mihailazar2487]

@@Lrofmaulol BECAUSE YOU CAN

[@albertjackinson]

Or "Simple" Rockets 2.

[@xqiuvmah]

Interstellar gets a pass on the "right stuff" problem. They didn't have the benefit of having thousands of highly qualified applicants all vying for the job. They have to send those capable of completing the mission, instead of the best for the mission. So, they are allowed to have potentially unstable people

[@SergeyPRKL]

Except Matt Damons character Mann had left earlier when there were better times. About 40-50 years before the events in movie ;)

[@bragod]

Interestellar has far worse problems. The time warp, oh the conventional time warp that make a coadjuvant exactly the age of a protagonist actress. The time warp planet was a complete plot device, it would make no sense to make a colony there in first place even if it was a paradise.

[@BrunoDiaz93]

Well, the REAL reason it gets a pass on the "right Stuff" problem is that Matt Damon's character (the character discussed in this video) ISN'T a part of their team.

[@TheNheg66]

To the point about mars gravity : i noticed that when there were items freefalling outside of the HAB they did actually show them falling a lot slower. So although the producers didn't go the extra mile, they sure as hell did think about it and at least went the extra yard or two

[@Kalumbatsch]

So simulating 40% of Earth's gravity is too hard for Hollywood in 2015, yet moon hoaxers want us to believe they did 16% perfectly in 1969.. lol

[@idontwanttopickone]

Ryan Miller, do you believe the moon landings were faked?

[@idontwanttopickone]

Ryan Miller good troll.

[@marcoseduardocastro781]

It has been proven a bunch of times that the moon landings are not fake...

[@idontwanttopickone]

Marcos Eduardo Castro yes that's what the comment says.

[@downtoearth2933]

Marcos Eduardo Castor. "it has been proven" ? Wait. You want to say there is a proof of moon landing not being fake ? If you give some example instead of saying "a bunch of times" would give some credibility to your post. Of course there is no proof and any attempt to prove moon landing makes it look even more stupid. All you need is logic, a bit of psychology and own eyes to watch NASA official footage to know it's all very bad made. It was made for easy to manipulate audience in 60's yet still in 2018 people still believe all that 12 men walked on the moon. How easy is to deceive some people, even when they have all the technology to analyze the hoax, is amazing. What next ? you will probably believe man landing on Mars. Feel free to live in your fantasy, science-fiction bubble. It's always fun. But it's not the reality. Cheers.

[@BrendanPramjee]

Always remember that we also watching a movie not a documentary. So the balance needs to be right. Sometimes you have to suspend your belief and just have fun with it

[@ROBOVIPER]

I really love it when people say good things about science and acknowledge the impact of science fiction on our culture. Because I am a 19 year old who wants to be a robotics engineer because of science fiction movies and books. A literal fiction writer invented robotics. Science fiction gives me the dream and I get to go catch it. It’s great!

[@darthvicious9447]

Keep doing that young man, because this country, if not this world needs more just like you!

[@thrustvectoring8120]

I think that you should really reconsider the suit. Yes, it does not seem to have any pressurisation. But that does not mean it does not have a pressure layer beneath the actual suit. You just need an elastic layer below the actual suit, you don't really need the high pressure bulk. You say that because it is not bulky, it is impractical. I say it is a complete nonsense. For what the suit is designed, the suit is very practical. Take a look at what they do during the EVA on Mars at the beginning of the movie. They do geological research. They dig to the ground. As experienced on the Moon, the bulky spacesuit is very, very impractical for this task. You can not bend in it, you can not kneel down in it, you can not crouch in it. Whereas in this suit we see Matt Damon wearing, he does all of this stuff. On the Moon they had to use a special equipment to collect rocks and do geological research. Now, the Moon is very close. This allows two things - first, you can plan shorter stays on the Moon than on Mars. The astronauts went to the moon for a weekend. Literally. Apollo 11 spent 21h 36min and 20 seconds on the surface of the Moon. The longest stay on the Moon was Apollo 17's 74h 59min and 40 seconds. So the lander did not have to carry that much equipment to the Moon. But for Mars it is different. Every kilo of weight counts, so it would be more sensible idea to make a light skinny spacesuit for the mission instead of sending tens of kilos of special equipment with long handles and special graspers for use during the EVA. Because even with the carbon fibre technology we have today, it is still better to downsize the equipment than change the material of which it is made and the best thing still is to downsize and change the material to cut weight of the tool. So, using the latest technology(that could be very different 10 years from now), maybe even some nanotechnology, to build a light skinny suit would be preferable than just going with the old bulky design and wasting precious kilograms for special equipment. It is the future and suppose they can actually make those suits 10 years from now, it is a science-FICTION after all. But not all of that time was dedicated to the EVA. Apollo 17 spent only 1h 5m 44s doing the EVA on the surface of the Moon. And there goes the second point of my comment I am trying to make. These suits are not meant to be very durable and they are certainly not made for an extended Mars walks. They are meant to be used for a short period of time. Space suits on the other hand, are meant to be used for hours and hours of space walks. The average time of EVAs in the year 2015 was something above 6 hours! And most of the time spent in space is actually trying to not fly away from the space station and trying to not drop anything. But on Mars, on the other hand, you can completely scratch this time, because there is no problem if you drop something, it just lands on the ground and maybe if you are in a bulky suit, you can not pick it up, but if you do have a suit like in the Martian, you really have no problem picking stuff up. And you don't need to worry about flying away from the hab if you are not some sort of an uncontrollable martian bird. So the Mars is a considerably less hostile environment for human beings than the space. Plus, those suits could maintain a lower pressure in the body parts than in the helmet. You have to spend a lot of time getting out of the suit in an airlock, so it can act as a compression chamber. Yes, for divers it takes a lot of time to get used to a normal pressure, but the difference there is 8 atmospheres, whereas here the difference could be just a half of an atmosphere. This suit would certainly not be suitable for space walks. But why not, just leave the bulky suits for the actual space and let the astronauts wear for Mars more practical martian suits on Mars.

[@zolikoff]

"They didn't portray NASA as stereotypical nerds." Meanwhile they immediately start talking about Lord of the Rings during an unprecedented and risky decision they have to make about saving someone's life.

[@miscbits6399]

Mars is the only planet in the solar system entirely inhabited by robots

[@alastairbrand4998]

Apart from Venus (except all the robots there are dead - with a survival time in minutes to (maybe) hours) But still....

[@Defenestration700]

Well, there could be microorganisms on Mars. Mars used to be much more fertile and likely had life and I find it hard to believe that some life couldn't adapt to the slow cooling and drying of Mars.

[@UNSCPILOT]

@@alastairbrand4998 And the moon (some are still alive), and Titan has one resident (who's out of power but who's counting)

[@Tim-K.]

@@UNSCPILOT They’re talking about planets and not about moons

[@aquarius5719]

Venus is inhabited by crushed human junk. Jupiter is inhabited by bits of burned robot.

[@DogmaFaucet]

How is there not even a mention of the cartoon physics at the end, with Watney using a feeble jet of air from a torn glove, nowhere near his center of mass, to overcome a fairly sizeable delta-V?

[@hiyayakk0]

+Dale Dunn They were only 200 meters away, not much delta-V required.

[@DogmaFaucet]

+Decaf Diamond He didn't have much available, and his thruster was inefficient (in addition to being imprecise and aimed wrong). Edit: Oh yes, in addition to the distance, there was the velocity difference to overcome, in the space of less than a minute, I think it was.

[@hiyayakk0]

Dale Dunn Yeah, I knew that scene was totally impossible, but I was just saying that he probably could get enough thrust, seeing as how much atmosphere astronauts carry in their EVA suits

[@DogmaFaucet]

In the book there was a lot of interesting description of how the suits' life-support system managed pressures of various gasses in the suit. I'm sure Andy Weir could have and probably did calculate or look up the delta-V that a catastrophic suit failure could produce. I'd love to hear him talk about it. Edit: A quick googling only turned up this: www.quora.com/Why-do-people-criticize-the-physics-of-the-Iron-Man-scene-in-The-Martian

[@hiyayakk0]

Dale Dunn That kinda sucks, but what I want to know is how the MAV matched velocities with the Hermes.

[@janisfarhat9935]

Please do one of these on Interstellar!

[@GregMuniz7]

For real!

[@drneel1919]

Well everything is right in it

[@boiledelephant]

@@drneel1919 Depends how you feel about time travel, causality, entropy and singularities.

[@drneel1919]

boiledelephant ah yes

[@boiledelephant]

@@drneel1919 a mate of mine hated Interstellar, he was like "it's so broken! It's got a MASSIVE plot hole! Time travel doesn't work that way!" And I said "time travel doesn't exist and they hide it inside the bits of physics nobody understands yet. So that's like saying Harry Potter has a massive plot hole because magic isn't real." xD

[@catoblepas2577]

There was mars like gravity in the Martian. Only in certain outside scenes, for example when he threw away the warning flag of the RTG.

[@alansmithees3873]

This is great. I hope you keep making these. There are many older scifi films that would make interesting subjects.

[@ScienceVsCinema]

That's the plan! So glad you enjoyed our 1st episode.

[@jacemachine]

+Science Vs. Cinema I loved your first episode! You guys earn my respect and a Sub.

[@SoccerBoyAP]

5:25 - one Kate Mara, the new scientific standard for the measurement of 5ft 2in

[@megatron805]

When the last 5 inches of your smootstick snap off.

[@koolerpure]

The best part of science fiction movies is that we see things we’d consider impossible but nothing is truly impossible given enough time also gotta love how Matt Damon is the guy Hollywood keeps leaving behind

[@rainbowsninjascake]

Holy smokes this show should be on TV!! So entertaining and educational

[@SoreEyeMusic]

I love how in the movie industry, scientific accuracy has become sexy. It's perfect! Finally some intellectually interesting movies instead of typical Independence Day insanity. You know, the ones where even people that have no idea about science and engineering can still call bullshit on it xD

[@ROBOVIPER]

Hey that speech is more American than any I’ve heard recently

[@tylerwinningham3156]

Can I get tickets to the new Jay and Silent Bob movie?.... Jay?

[@lampad4549]

Hey man that movie was believable in it's own way

[@tomfreerunner4lyf]

I wish there was more, reccomend some please!

[@Atomkukac1]

It is NOT a general thing. There is no such thing like "movie industry". Some directors / scripwriters see the value in in ,some don't. Just watch the latest movie Ad Astra. Full of crap.

[@lawrencewestby9229]

I can accept the Mars gravity fail since it didn't affect the things Mark did while on the surface, it just would have looked slightly different. The thing I wished this review addressed is the Ironman scene as Mark punctures his suit to use the escaping air as a thruster. I'd like to hear a physicist's views on how his body would have moved in a near vacuum in free fall.

[@ireallylikejam]

You forgave/forgot the "Hollywood" "Iron Man" ending. As a lover of the book, seeing them change that for the film that got so much right was a let down.

[@colinfield981]

ireallylikejam yep the book was much better

[@albertjackinson]

What was the book's ending?

[@DrSteve660]

As a chemist I have some issues with “The Martian”. 1. He makes water from hydrogen derived from hydrazine with the aid of an iridium catalyst. Aside from the lack of explanation as to what the iridium catalyst was originally intended for, iridium dispersed on a substrate to make a catalyst would be black. But in the film it was shiny and metallic. 2. Why not just dig down a little to the permafrost and thaw some out to get water? 3. He used Martian soil, evidently without any treatment beyond human poo as fertiliser. Martian soil is rich in perchlorate, which may be reduced to chlorate, a weed-killer. He would need to wash it out first.

[@drneel1919]

DrSteve660 yess

[@biayo79]

in the books is explained, read it

[@boiledelephant]

@@biayo79 you actually said it. I've never seen someone actually use the cliché of "it's explained better in the books" in defense of a film. That logic is so bad it's got its own Trope page, why would you go there?

[@gunnarkaestle9405]

Isn't hydrazine very toxic? Or is it only irritating when you let it drop down in the same room, the air your are breathing. This hydrazine handling picture looks quite different from the style the Martian kept the Rainmaker running: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Hypergolic_Fuel_for_MESSENGER.jpg

[@roshysuresh4632]

@DrSteve660 I appreciate your effort in stating all those facts here and im all those are valid. But one point they all said at the end, that every single science experiments and explorations were inspired from the science fiction upfront. So treat the movie as SciFi and keep the science for real life. I mean if the purple alien could snap twice, enjoy the movies, enjoy Hollywood....

[@firedragon04]

Really fantastic start to a new series that I hope goes far. Would love you to dive into things like Interstellar and even the more fantastical sci-fi movies like Alien, Prometheus and Star Wars. Just to see if anything that they do in those movies is scientifically correct or theoretically possible.

[@hanshotfirst1138]

+Matt Plays I was surprised when I Googled "ion propulsion" after watching *Prometheus* and found out that it was based on something which actually existed.

[@cherifdz4307]

+Veronica plus.google.com/102661353096882239558/posts/2MpVeHr224Q

[@paulmoadibe9321]

+Cherif Dz poor quality cam... no thanks.

[@cherifdz4307]

it's better then nothing

[@MattOGormanSmith]

+Cherif Dz The number of cinemas in my town went from 3 to zero after the invention of VHS. Broadband saw the death of the VHS rental shops too. We're back up to 1 little cinema now. yay

[@aaron4820]

When I rule the universe, I will dictate that all units of power to be measured in pirate ninja(s), and all distances will be measured in Kate Mara(s).

[@tobiasspilker907]

hahaha XD

[@spaceman081447]

TO: aaron4820 I absolutely loved that The Martian used meters for distance, newtons for force, and pascals for pressure - especially since NASA has been using the metric system since 1990.

[@Alvinsch2]

Marsgiver. Dude, how did you let that pun pass?

[@thehandleiwantedwasntavailable]

What an excellent analysis. The part which rang true for me, was the closing sentiment. My 10 year old daughter recently watched The Martian with me. It remains her favourite film of all time, by a mile. She utterly loved every second of it, and was captivated by the concept of someone being stranded on a planet we have only seen through our backyard telescope.

[@DorazionHeroesGG]

Fantastic first episode! Looking forward to more videos. Great effort.

[@CallsignVega]

One thing that isn't talked about is the ending of the movie. It goes totally Hollywood with the making of a "bomb" in 20 minutes, exploding the hatch with zero consequences, using the cut glove as propulsion, etc etc...

[@Menstral]

Yes the book handled it much better. The strong person trained for the job would be the one doing the job, they would not be usurped by the weaker and higher ranked captain. Of course the captain in real life would be 55 and male.

[@philipcorner574]

@@Menstral : The captain replacing the EVA specialist bothered me too, and there was no good reason provided for this in the film. Also, the use of the term "altitude control fuel" when it is actually "attitude control" wound me up: was this actually a mistake in the script, or did they intentionally change it because people wouldn't know what attitude was? (3D orientation, in case you didn't know)

[@kevinstauffer306]

My complaint about the Martian was the rendezvous at the end. Speed differential between two objects in space is huge, so a proper orbital rendezvous requires lots of highly accurate adjustments to get two objects in the same spot at the same time going the same direction at about the same speed. The idea that you can make that work just by setting off an explosion on the space ship and using the pressure from Mark’s suit, it’s highly far fetched.

[@themercer4972]

Good start. I will be looking into the rest of these vids.

[@MaxLenormand]

Awesome video ! Thank you very much for this ! :D As a french aeronautics and space engineer, I'm just what you said at the end of the video, inpired even more to study to one day work in that field that is space exploration ! :D By the way, so are so lucky having the chance to meet Andy Weir, NASA engineers, and some of the movie crew ! :D

[@lordkenzington]

Really great start to what is hopefully an ongoing series! Scientific inaccuracies in film make me crazy because it has such an influence on the younger generations and their perceptions of physics and space. What a lot of movie makers need to realise is that space is pretty bloody amazing by itself, you don't need to throw in fanciful plot points to make it entertaining.

[@legendofpersia]

amazing series. thank you for creating these videos.

[@ResourceMultiplier]

Really good analysis. Thanks!

[@KainWyatt]

Please, keep these coming. A thousand greetings from Dimension 8 (Dimension of the testicle people) Seriously though this is awesome.

[@McMurchie]

Sorry dude, you need to re-evaluate the fail on the suits- as current NASA portfolio of the planned mars missions includes consideration for skin tight suits not puffy suits. The reason is, you have to remember than the human body is used to creating a reactive force to the large atmospheric pressure on earth. Mars doesn't have that, and to counteract that, whilst a puffy suit would work, its bulky unwieldy and basically outdated. A proposal for a skin tight meta material suit which balances pressure with torsion is on the table - Space X may be going down that road too.

[@ScienceVsCinema]

+Adam -亚当- Thanks for your interest in the video. I actually considered those suits, and I linked to some information on them in the article I wrote: www.aintitcool.com/node/73331. They actually aren't the same thing as what was shown in the film. The costume designer said she was aware of those suits but actually made up her own thing: www.space.com/30695-the-martian-movie-spacesuit-design.html

[@McMurchie]

Ah, that will be it then. I remember watching a preview video saying that was the choice of suits that they are going for. Wow... the costume designer made her one ones! You would think the director would have stepped in on that one right? BTW - keep your ears to the ground buddy, word is we will get a Space X announcement on their new suits.. hope they wont be puffy lol

[@brianhchan]

Also he's comparing tech we have today not what we are working on and may have in 20 years. Which the movie is portrayed in 2035 I believe.

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

Aside from the bulky helmet based on real life those suits in the movie were substantially lighter and more form fitting than existing EVA suits today.

[@MrDexter337]

+Adam -亚当- Can you clarify what you mean by "the human body is used to creating a reactive force to the large atmospheric pressure on earth"?

[@dgrizzley]

Great video, really enjoyed it thanks.

[@pradyumnamadhav]

Thank you for making these videos. My wife and I love watching them. And your enthusiasm on the subject is so infectious!

[@changlee8769]

Awesome stuff, can't wait for more!!

[@j.d.3597]

I love the idea of your channel and I look forward to when you tackle the behemoth that is 2001 (also my favorite movie).

[@ryanzacsanders]

thanks for the video, great work!

[@DrRich-mw4hu]

Pure AWESOMENESS!!!!! Thank You!

[@ImTheSqrtOfNegative1]

Awesome video, but I think you missed another big fail from the movie which was the omission of radiation. Mars' does not have a thick atmosphere or a strong magnetic field to repel it. Watney spent over 500 days on Mars and though you might argue that he had protection inside the station, he also spent a lot of time just wondering around the surface on his suit. He was exposed to so much radiation that his cancer got cancer.

[@bumbledouche3323]

+ImTheSqrtOfNegative1 I was thinking the exact same thing! Also unmentioned anywhere else I've seen so far were the dehydrated/cracked/dry-mud surfaces, indicative of water evaporating from the soil, as you'd see on a dried up creek or riverbed after some really hot weather here on Earth... I may be mistaken, but I don't believe that sort of evidence of water has yet been observed on Mars.

[@EleriHamilton]

+ImTheSqrtOfNegative1 This is actually addressed in the book, where the suit itself is made of fabric that blocks radiation. This sort of fabric is already in early testing, so it isn't as fictional as it sounds.

[@bumbledouche3323]

+Eleri Hamilton Well the book is celebrated for its attention to detail, but it's something that wasn't addressed in the film... I guess they didn't have the time to explain everything.

[@EleriHamilton]

Bumble Douche It's have been a 4 hour movie if they'd left everything in o.O (not that some of us would have minded, but, you know...) I know there's one deleted scene already out there where they mention Watney's hot tub. I think it is one of those things that can be explained in a book, that doesn't translate well on film- why would a bunch of future NASA astronauts talk amoung themselves about the material their suits are made of, and how they're protected from radiation? It'd be kinda like someone in a movie looking outside and saying "Look, it is raining now! I am going to go get my umbrella which is specially designed to protect my head from the water falling from the sky!" Me, I'm waiting for the DVD blooper reel, to see how many takes it took Sean Bean to get through the Project Elrond scene without laughing.

[@bumbledouche3323]

+Eleri Hamilton Agreed... I'm looking forward to finding out how Sean Bean survived a full movie

[@robert7622]

The whole problem with the dust storm was continuity. You cant start the film with an Earth like violent atmospheric dust storm then end it with the Space Rocket flying with a cone made of cloth "With the NASA engineers saying don't worry the atmospheres so thin so it will work" We saw the atmosphere wasn't thin at the start!

[@nathanaelvetters2684]

I'd rather they cheat only once than keep the broken physics throughout the movie, personally.

[@lampad4549]

Well the atmosphere cleared after a year wouldn't it

[@caav56]

@@nathanaelvetters2684 I remember a theory, that mega-storm in the beginning was, actually, a combo of an actual dust storm and a local outgassing, hence abnormally-strong winds.

[@MistedMind]

@@lampad4549 So you want so say, the Mars-atmosphere vented it's pressure "somewhere" within one year? You might want to rethink what was explained in the movie ;)

[@danmyers9372]

Science “fiction” remember?

[@ninjafukwan7]

man do more videos!!! these videos are awesome!!

[@remysanlaville3085]

Great video, great channel. Thank you!

[@gfarrell80]

What about the radiation? The ship doesn't seem to have much protection, and Matt Damon seems to be spending quite a bit of time pretty exposed on the surface.

[@alkh3myst]

Any long-term habitation on Mars would have to be underground, for this reason.

[@jimbrown6323]

and what about oxygen ?

[@GOMnessstopmotions]

@@jimbrown6323 i haven’t seen the movie, but I’ve read the book multiple times. In the book, he has a device called the oxygenator. It takes CO2 and separates the carbon and oxygen.

[@0xD1CE]

3:22 is when he actually starts explaining.

[@RodSanAgustin]

Awesome video and the Martian was an amazing piece of work. Throwback to Space Camp too. Great film

[@chowtom5174]

That ending was so inspirational ... thank you

[@modprog]

One thing i recognised was, that everything makes noise in space. And what the hell was that bomb? You have nearly no time to create a bomb - and you create one with a flashing light and a bleeping sound.

[@bnadit1949]

Can't fault you for the sound in space, but the bomb, yes. The book explains this very well. Vogel, a Chemist, knew that sugar contained lots of energy, and under normal circumstances it was basically harmless (hence why sugar isn't dangerous on Earth), but if you put it into a mostly Oxygen atmosphere it will react violently, and by containing it in a jar it was able to build up enough pressure to be a bomb. This is why Vogel put it into the jar, he could store the reactants away from the surroundings while also making a pressure vessel and ensuring that the LOX (Liquid Oxygen) stayed near the Sugar, causing the explosion we saw. All that was needed was enough heat to jump start the reaction, hence the wiring into the light panel. If one were to have all the materials in front of them and know what they needed to do to make a bomb they would be able to do it as quickly, or maybe quicker than the book and movie say (the book says 18 minutes).

[@henrychan720]

It's one of those movie things. You can't make a movie without sound, so that's why there is sound in space.

[@scarpography]

@@henrychan720 in Interstellar there was no sound in space and it was awesome.

[@discoreapor8154]

@@scarpography When the ship exploded with dramatic music instead of explosion sounds was pretty epic

[@86fuser]

Just a small comment about "the right stuff". I agree with the general evaluation but they committed a big cliche' sin that I can't forgive. When Kate Mara is asked to hack into the spacecraft system and disable the remote controls from earth she starts to describe the hacking process and Micheal Pena says smt like "What does that mean in english???". Despite being a very old cliche' it is also very inaccurate as any astronaut will be confident with the idea described by Mara...

[@digitalnomad9985]

+Oreste Madia You will never go broke underestimating the intelligence or scientific knowledge of the moviegoing audience. The dialog is ultimately there for the audience, not the characters.

[@johnwang9914]

+Oreste Madia Though I generally agree with you that an astronaut should be somewhat technically literate, I also remember watching the NASA live broadcasts from the space shuttle once where ground control had to tell an astronaut how to recognize a serial cable as a flat ribbon cable with a DB25 connector. Hacking might've just been outside the specialty of the given astronaut.

[@mapesdhs597]

I think I have to agree with Oreste on this one, after recently reading through what a full NASA training scenario involves. It's such a multidisciplinary regime, the exchange in that scene does seem a bit out of place. However, there are far worse sins in the movie I think, but it does do a few things better than the book, especially the more fleshed out ending (the book ends quite abruptly, though the way Watney is brought onboard is better in the book, the movie just couldn't resist giving the captain a Mary Sue moment). OTOH, Digital Nomad is spot on about some of the dialogue, there are several conference room scenes where what is said is so obviously just exposition for the audience, ie. characters explaining or mentioning basic things which everyone in the room would already know about. If they wanted to include exposition or explanatory stuff for the audience, there were better ways it could have been done, eg. the PR lady having a 1-to-1 Q&A with someone afterwards so she can ensure her press statements are correct, ie. the context of her asking would make sense, and the audience is brought up to speed at the same time. Still, I was expecting that kind of dialogue and it wasn't done too badly, certainly not compared to other movies where one often feels like one is being whacked over the head.

[@Libertas_P77]

Outstandingly well put together video, thank you. If they're all this good then what a find.

[@FredrikLagerstrom]

I am looking forward to more episodes in this series, well presented and good and researched facts! . . . . . . . . . (*Spoiler warning below*) . But! Science or not, the fact that Sean Bean survives a full movie, that is the most unbelieveable of all things in the movie!

[@maoqiutong]

Fantastic interpretation of this movie. But I need to wait until end of November to see this movie in cinema in China.

[@behemothokun]

+ERIC Sheng that's too bad it comes out in your country so late; I hope you'll enjoy the movie as much as I did.

[@Aeronaut1975]

+ERIC Sheng I recommend reading the book first because the film leaves out so much detail and wasn't as enjoyable as the book for that very reason.

[@behemothokun]

mezsh for that reason it's better to watch the movie first, so you don't notice something missing. And then the book has some nice surprises and extra content waiting.

[@domaniquereid4782]

+mezsh thats because its a movie would you like to go to the theater for 5 hour long movie? lol

[@chibi013]

+ERIC Sheng That sucks! I hope you like it, though. It's absolutly worth the wait.

[@illustrativetexts]

gotta love Andy Weir on the press conference... his look is like "man, how did i even get here, with all these cool people??" and then "the heck, guess i'm just gonna sit down, smile and enjoy the hell out of it!"

[@heycosmickelly]

I love that she mentioned Space Camp! That's my #1 fave movie of all time!

[@roqofort5110]

Something I would have liked to have to seen in the film would've been Watney repairing the Hab after the airlock blew. He would have had to live in the rover, possibly for 2-3 days and getting the airlock module fixed would've been tricky, fixing all the seals with only the available tools and no factory equipment, an engineering sub plot in itself, maybe adding an extra 15 min to the film, but every min was fun and entertaining.

[@Ax1007]

I dont really understand why people bring up the radiation or the windstorm. Both of these have already been addressed by the author. The windstorm is impossible but was a fabrication to initiate the story. The anti-radiation material is also fabricated to simplify the story and because its still not clearly understood even by NASA how we get around it.

[@DestroyerWill]

Very interesting thanks

[@HippieInHeart]

very interesting video, thanks for that.

[@adelaidehulahoopers9286]

They missed the bit where he didn't bleed out after pulling out the sharp thing while far from pressure bandages.

[@allangibson8494]

You won't bleed out - the blood freezes first.

[@Coyote27981]

In the extended edition he mentions that the blood blocked the puncture. Enough at least to delay it until he regained conciusness.

[@allangibson8494]

@@Coyote27981 So does the book....

[@lukassnakeman]

one more thing, the hermes ship had way too many giant windows. on one side of the window you have one atmosphere of pressure and on the other side the entire vacuum of space. the glass would have to be immensely strong science glass and still prob very thick. itd be much easier, safer, and more efficient to just have a wall. yeah you dont get to see space but hey, you get live

[@bananian]

radiation would be more of an issue.

[@martinsweet3468]

+lukassnakeman Invisible Aluminum is a real thing, look it up!

[@Boardwoards]

+bananian The author is assuming by 2035 a thin coating/material has been developed. Not all that unlikely, even if it doesn't exist today.

[@bananian]

Herr Richtofen I am saying if everything is made of window. Unless you mean there are windows that can resist radiation.

[@khaledshariff1234]

+Herr Richtofen Gel works really well. No reason you could not use a transparent, even thick gel and recycle it.

[@phaln4u]

love your work bro. keep it coming..

[@pwneytube]

Love the Total Recall reference in the thumbnail!

[@muha0644]

2:37 *1 rover R.I.P. Opportunity. you will be missed.

[@MrDexter337]

One thing that really bugged me about the martian was the scene when the habitat exploded, and Matt Damon patched it up with tarp and duct tape. WTF? I'm finding that hard to believe. 1) Mars atmosphere is much lower and the tarp would probably burst 2) Mars is VERY cold, especially at night. A tarp isn't going to do much to keep Matt Damon from freezing to death.

[@GoogleAccount-zu8yp]

+George Kyriakou Read the book.

[@giash1]

Edward Holmes did you find out? I thought he was going to discuss that.

[@sosa9754]

Do Science Vs. Cinema for The Expanse. Best SciFi show ever hands down.

[@mattsmallwood8579]

Fantastic content... Wonderfully presented and demonstrated with practical experiments... You have earned a subscriber here!

[@MehQueen]

I have a question about the rover; in the film it looked like it lacked an airlock, how would that rate on your pass or fail scale? Awesome video by the way!

[@ScienceVsCinema]

+tigerlydi The real NASA rover has a suit that attaches to the back door. You hop out the door right into your suit. We didn’t see enough of the Martian rover to see if it works like that. Thanks for the question! - Andy

[@ReddwarfIV]

+Science Vs. Cinema From what I could tell, the rover would store its atmosphere, then dump it in the cab when an astronaut gets in. Presumably it sucks the air back out again when the astronaut wants to get out. It doesn't need an airlock because the cab essentially _is_ an airlock. Also, there was a hatch on the back of the cab that may have been an actual airlock. Watney kept using the side doors though.

[@MehQueen]

My issue was that there may be pressure/temperature sensitive equipment in the rover and in the film he kept using the side doors which seemed like regular doors.

[@benknuckels]

+tigerlydi Not to mention when he gets out of the vehicle toward the end when he has the bubble on top you'll notice that when he opens the door the bubble doesn't deflate. It seems as if this vacuum system isn't working a hundred percent of the time.

[@digitalnomad9985]

+tigerlydi Maybe the glove box is pressurized, Air lock or no air-lock all the gear built into the interior of a small vehicle like that would be vacuum certified.

[@leerman22]

They forgot to mention the giant ion engine was powered by a nuclear reactor, and those radiators were way too small to generate any substantial power. 2-4 large foldable radiators that rotate parallel to the sun would have been more realistic. Radiators facing broadside to the sun would heat up more reducing the proper heat transfer, creating power reduction.

[@hagamapama]

+leerman22 He did mention that the ship, like C&C, was designed by designers rather than engineers. Just accept that it was form over function because a lot of the design was a guess.

[@leerman22]

+hagamapama The rotating radiators in kerbal space program look pretty badass to me.

[@jackrobinson5671]

leerman22 no ion drives don't use nuclear reactors.

[@leerman22]

They need a power source and ion drives need either massive arrays of panels or a nuclear reactor.

[@johnwang9914]

+leerman22 Nuclear reactors require significant amount of cooling and hence require large thermal radiators. The spaceship in 2001 was supposed to have a giant Delta wing of radiators for it's reactors but the director thought viewers would see that as an aerodynamic wing. The spaceship in this movie did not have any thermal radiators either, not even enough for the heat generated by the crew. Many of the panels of the ISS are thermal radiators not solar panels and many of the problems on the ISS are ammonia leaks of the panels.

[@matkosmat8890]

Hey, thanks for an awesome vid! Keep them coming!

[@kangarod]

I just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know I really appreciate your videos. Keep up the good work!

[@JoergWessels]

The helmets are internally lit. Accuracy at work...

[@digitalnomad9985]

+Jörg Wessels Cinematic necessity, my friend. You don't pay for Matt Damon just to have a spherical mirror hide his face and method acting, you just don't.

[@JoergWessels]

Digital Nomad that's beside the point: the video is about the inaccuracies of this movie and said problem isn't referred to.

[@GhostInTheShell29]

+Digital Nomad You could have a spherical mirror hide his face, and then hire a cheaper actor to play all his parts in the space suite. Then it be more accurate and the directors could've saved money.

[@digitalnomad9985]

"could've saved money." And saved about 2/3 of the audience. What part of "necessity" do you not understand? You shouldn't criticize a movie for being a movie.

[@dhkatz_]

I don't understand what is wrong with the helmets being internally lit.

[@kall399]

Just wait till we can actually shoot movies on mars and the moon.

[@discoreapor8154]

Then we'll be making movies about actually landing on gas giants or stuff

[@kenetickups6146]

humans will kill themselves off first

[@ragskul4891]

You're comment is pretty much coming to life in another year

[@rickylovesyou]

great stuff, need more content!

[@vivid996]

Grerat review, fantastic detail

[@BuckRogers2000]

I notice the actual rescue wasn't addressed. ;)

[@TheWelshDwarf]

Yep, it was quiped at in the book but the actual rescue was very professional. The whole iron man thing in the movie could easily have snapped the tether. I have a mental block on that scene.

[@SergeyPRKL]

@@TheWelshDwarf Man, why did you two remind me of it. Now i need to read it again to forget the film.

[@wysiwyg2006]

good episode. i saw The Martian last weekend. thought it was quite enjoyable and liked that it was quite factual/possible. I think those that disliked it most didnt understand the science parts or wanted an all out action sci fi movie instead of a sci fact based movie. good work all around

[@nickslens]

This was incredible! Fantastic video overall! Can't wait to see what the next ten years holds for space exploration!

[@veins101]

OMG SOOOOO EPIC! So much work put into this.

[@isegrim1978]

I personally disliked the rotational segment on Hermes. How would you get a moving seal air tight, it would always lose some. I always imagined that the whole ship would rotate. But i confess, it looks cool.

[@haardo]

An excavator utilizes electronics, hydraulics and pneumatics through the central pivot point. It's not that difficult. :)

[@FiNiTe_weeb]

I mean the Cupola module on the ISS has some handles you can turn to open/close the window shields, iirc they do slowly lose air over time but it's not enough to be a big deal.

[@mentalitydesignvideo]

same as with propeller shaft on a boat.

[@Atomkukac1]

It is a great comment, but I think the answer is just the question of mechanical engineering. If there is a need for a rotating air-tight bearing solution, the engineers will have it done. :)

[@Jenn1986]

Awesome. I watched the film last week and kept wondering how much of the science is actually real, what's fake and what's only sort-of-true. Either way "The Martian" blew me away (no pun intended). And I'm not really even a science fiction fan. I love that so much of the science is real. Thanks for explaining a lot of the problems. The more skin tight suits I consider sort-of-true. I've heard NASA is actually working on something like that. For now my two major questions are: 1) is it actually possible to make water the way it was shown?; 2) could lift-off in a "convertible" MAV happen, especially without killing the passengers? I mean g-force, friction despite a thinner atmosphere, the parachute "roof"... Keep making the videos. This one was a treat to watch.

[@ScienceVsCinema]

+Jenn1986 Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! There is some information on the skin-tight suits in the article I wrote: www.aintitcool.com/node/73331. They actually aren't the same thing as what was shown in the film though. The costume designer said she was aware of those suits but actually made up her own thing: www.space.com/30695-the-martian-movie-spacesuit-design.html I didn't want to give away the ending, but yes, the "convertable" MAV launch could happen, in principle. And yes, the chemical reactions to create water were broadly right in the book, even though he didn't get the volumes you'd generate exactly right (they were close though).

[@hagamapama]

+Jenn1986 I think the real question about manned Mars missions and Mars colonization are going to be the ones The Martian tries to speak to. Issues about creating a base of supply on the planet in particular. We can get objects onto the surface, and we can take off from the surface, we can do both more easily than we probably could on earth. All the physical challenges can be plausibly answered as long as we can take care of the logicstics. The logistics has always been the real hard part.

[@Jenn1986]

+hagamapama That too. What also makes me wonder is how often do meteor strikes happen on Mars. Earth is protected by an atmosphere thick enough to stop at least some of the bigger stuff, but the one on Mars is much thinner. Imagine evacuation of a martian base because it's within striking distance of an incoming "space bullet". All in all, there can be a boatload and then some of questions about missions to Mars just basing on this book and film.

[@Xalba27]

Regarding your water question, then yeah. It is possible chemically, although as they portrayed in both the movie and boon there are very real dangers associated with it. It is detailed further in the book with proper scientific workarounds. If you haven't read the book I would still recommend it even after watching the movie,as there is even more awesomeness. Or go for the audio book which should also be fantastic!

[@Jenn1986]

+Xalba27 Thanks. I just started the book a few days ago and have serious trouble putting it away before finishing. Turns out it might be one of those I'd read in one go if I had the time. And I'm generally not all that much of a fan of science fiction, so I guess that's saying something. This one is probably an exception because so much of the stuff either is real or might become real in the future. For example, I didn't know that ion propulsion actually exists. So no matter how I look at the subject, it's still exciting to me :)

[@Motorsheep]

Great work! That was a lot of fun to watch.

[@cheddar2648]

Good series concept and enjoyable elaboration. Subbed.

[@ejdLB]

I was surprised that you gave the movie a "Pass" for MacGyver of Mars. I understand that a lot of what he does would normally necessitate that rating, but the movie, like the book, ignores one key element: perchlorates. Perchlorate, mainly calcium perchlorate, makes up less than 1% of Martian soil. Unfortunately, that 1% is still extremely toxic to humans. While it would be extremely beneficial to plant live and would eventually be removed from the soil, it'd still cause serious health problems before that would happen. It probably should have rated a "Cheat." On a side note, I do like and appreciate the amount of time and effort you put into this video. Keep it up and I look forward to more videos. For those of you who haven't read the book yet, do so. Coming from an aerospace engineer, it's a fun read.

[@ScienceVsCinema]

+Corran Horn I had a bit in about how perchlorates could screw you up, but some regions actually have much lower and more manageable levels. It got cut for time though. Thanks -- glad you appreciated the video.

[@johnwang9914]

+Corran Horn I too would've found a hydroponic solution to growing food more believable than the thin layer of Martian regolith and poop on a sheet of poly. He should've scavenged the habitat for containers not lay out Martian soil. An aeroponics solution might've also been reasonable for minimal water use.

[@MARSTVCHANNEL]

The soil is similar to soil varieties on Earth, for example Kieserite, which we use as fertilizer on Earth, and is abundant on Mars as well. Also perchlorate is extremely fortunate to be there since it SIGNIFICANTLY lowers the melting point of water, AND the triple point of water is exceeded, and these two allow for liquid water to exist at the surface while temperatures on and above the ground during the daytime reach into the high twenties (C), so all this is means the environment in many places on PRESENT DAY Mars is extremely suitable for life to exist ... BUT; The NASA director is a scumbag, a gatekeeper of the highest order, not even mentioning they landed two fantastic life detection Landers on the planet in 1976, and the reason is that they both detected life, confirming each others findings in two locations on the planet. The perchlorite discovered in 2008, was the only thing missing to solve the puzzle why no organics were found in 1976, and completed the findings, BUT THIS WAS NEVER PUBLISHED, and instead BURIED, to COVER UP the detection of life on Mars.Find out about the science in "Mars Unexpected" (just google it).

[@supershenron9162]

Corran Horn THANK YOU. I thought I was the only person who knew that In the comment pool

[@supershenron9162]

MARS TV CHANNEL while your correct about the benafits to water and plants, eating anything grown in it would be extremely hazardous and lethal for us fleshy bags of meat. I heard about the detection of life though and while I can't say i'm 100% convinced life exists there I do find it highly suspicious that they completely dropped the findings didn't make effort to follow up and even tried bury existing info

[@julianlord5366]

Your dust experiment is inaccurate as you have conducted it in the high pressure atmosphere at close to sea level of an entirely different planet. The pressure + density of Earth's atmosphere would lead to entirely different results regarding dust particles + wind.

[@KutWrite]

I was waiting to hear how they calculated the equivalence of that tiny spare fan to the Martian wind, as portrayed in the film. Did I miss that?

[@spaceman081447]

TO: Julian Lord You're right. The demonstration should have been conducted in a vacuum chamber that had been depressurized to 0.01 atm = 0.147 psi.

[@danmyers9372]

Yeah that wind “experiment” was really hokey and unscientific.

[@desther7975]

Thank you for making this channel!

[@kvarley87]

awesome idea

[@spacecadet35]

How did you get a gravity of 2 m/s/s for the Hermes? If the radius of the crew compartments is 42 feet (~13m) and looking at the video at 3:48, it shows that the crew compartment rotates 1/16 of a rotation in 5 seconds. That gives a rim velocity of 0.64 m/s. That means the centripetal acceleration is approximately 0.003 m/s^2. That is 3mm/s/s. That won't stop bone calcification problems.

[@jazzmaan707]

Your math is wrong. The rotation of the crew compartment was 42 feet, which would produce 0.2 g's, and is mentioned at the 5:32 mark. So, a 180 pound guy at 0.2 g's would weigh how many pounds in outer space? That's your assignment for tomorrow. Must show the math too.

[@alesh2275]

I wish they titled it “The Martian Botanist” instead :)

[@jetheron]

WELL DONE. I love this approach.

[@the_freebeard]

Everyone wants to be an astronaut, but what we really need are the scientists and engineers who make the missions happen. That's the kind of people we should be inspiring kids to become. There will never be a lack of people who want to go on the missions themselves.

[@alexandersydney]

What about perchlorates in soil?

[@patriciaviles4033]

alek syd that wasn’t confirmed til 2016.

[@liquidbraino]

What? They can percolate coffee using Martial soil? That's GREAT news!

[@skyz6708]

It would take several years of consuming the amount perchlorates on mars before it would cause damage.

[@patriciaviles4033]

Yes, but it might make growing plants more difficult.

[@rpbajb]

They suspected perchlorates from the Viking landers back in the 70's. The concentration is 0.5%, toxic to humans and harmful to plants. Watney could not have grown consumable potatoes in martian soil without treating it first.