Here’s how much time Mark Watney, Matt Damon’s character in The Martian (2015), spent on Mars, and why it took so long for him to be rescued.
Mark Watney had to survive on Mars in The Martian for several days. Based on Andy Weir’s The Martian novel, Ridley Scott’s The Martian starred Matt Damon as Mark Watney. Set in a future where humans are beginning to colonize Mars, The Martian saw Mark Watney use every resource at his disposal to survive by himself and eventually return home.
Part of what makes The Martian one of the best Ridley Scott sci-fi movies is how Mark had to calculate every decision he made on Mars. Having to grow his own food and produce his own water, Mark could not miscalculate any move. Mark’s survival plan was based on waiting for the Ares IV mission to arrive on Mars and rescue him.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Mark Watney Was On Mars For 564 Days In The Martian Mark Watney experienced 549 Martian days on Mars in The Martian. Considering that Mars has a larger orbit than Earth, Martian days are longer than Earth days. More precisely, it takes around 24 hours and 40 minutes for Mars to complete one rotation. Therefore, what Mark experienced as a day on Mars was actually 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.
The Martian’s timeline becomes easier to decipher by considering that the Ares III astronauts rescued their colleague on sol 549. Given that the Hermes originally left Mars on sol 18 of their mission, Mark spent 531 sols by himself on Mars. In other words, Mark Watney was left alone on Mars for 546 Earth days. Had NASA followed their initial plan of rescuing Mark during the Ares IV mission, Matt Damon’s character would have spent four years on Mars.
Why Mark Watney Was Stranded On Mars For So Long By the time NASA found out that Mark Watney was alive, it was already too late for the Hermes to go back. That is why Teddy Sanders decided not to tell the crew of the Hermes that their friend was alive. Teddy feared that the news would break the Ares III crew, which could put their return to Earth in danger. Mark’s only alternative seemed to wait four years on Mars until the Ares IV, Earth’s next mission to the red planet, landed.
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