Informatics For years, he pictured Martian landscapes in his mind, complete with all of the deadly threats presented by a planet bathed in radiation, its red rocks swept by carbon dioxide windstorms, and the prospect that a human walking about would die in a very, very short time. He envisioned Martian habitats, equipment, hydroponic gardens and complex instruments, not to mention the propulsion systems needed to set human boots on the Red Planet. Andy Weir had clear images in his mind of what a Martian habitat would need to look like — how it recycled CO² and urine — how fragile these environments were in the face of the hostile Martian environment. And Andy Weir imagined just what would happen when an astronaut was accidentally left behind on a mission to the Red Planet. What would this astronaut have to do to survive for a period of time much longer than his supplies were scheduled to last? So, Andy Weir wrote a novel detailing the exploits of Mark Watney, an industrious, irreverent, politically incorrect man who cared about his shipmates above even his own safety. And people cared about Mark Watney. A whole lot of people. Read more: The Martian: From Self-Published Blog to Major Motion Picture Andy began publishing chapters of The Martian on his Web site, and his legion of nerdy fans ate it up, so much so, Andy’s 3000+ followers of his site started asking for the entire novel. Andy supplied The Martian as a free download… [Read full story]
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