The Martian Potato

November 17, 2024 Post a Comment

The martian potato

In The Martian, potatoes are successfully harvested after 48 sols (a Martian solar day – 24 hours 39 minutes long), but the success of the venture does not last: Watney's potato-growing is put to an abrupt end as the front of his habitat blows off, exposing his entire crop to the Martian air.

What does Mark Watney dip his potato in?

Sparking a chemical reaction to produce water, Watney blasts himself across the room. Running out of ketchup to leaven the taste of his home-grown, life-sustaining potatoes, he dips them in crushed Vicodin.

What does Matt Damon dip his potato in in The Martian?

There is a scene in the movie where Matt Damon runs out of ketchup and turns to dipping his potatoes in Vicodin.

Could The Martian grow potatoes?

Recent experiments have demonstrated that potatoes can grow on Mars, but likely only varieties that can tolerate the salty Martian soil.

What does Mark use his poop for why?

So to get biological material into Martian soil, Watney uses the only spare biological material he has: astronaut poop. He mixes it in with the Martian soil, plants some potatoes that NASA had sent up with his crew, and, voila, you have plant life on Mars.

Why did Mark Watney keep the potato plants alive?

The reason why Watney grew potatoes is that they are almost the only crop he could grow. The mission did not carry seeds or seedlings with them, because they were not planning on growing food, because they were planning to stay only one month, not more than 2 years.

Is the soil on Mars toxic?

Martian soil is harmful for plants and people because it contains a lot of chlorine in molecules called perchlorates. These toxic molecules will need to be removed before using the soil to grow food crops. The harsh Martian environment poses many additional challenges plant growth.

Why did Mark Watney dip the potato in Vicodin?

He dips the potato in crushed Vicodin- Vicodin is the combination of an opioid pain medication, hydrocodone, and paracetamol- it's a pain killer. So, Mark Watney [Matt Damon] put tomato sauce and crushed Vicodin on the potatoes for taste. Which is the best Matt Damon film?

What did Mark Watney burn to make water?

In “The Martian,” Damon's character, astronaut Mark Watney, produces water by burning leftover rocket fuel and extracts the hydrogen from the resulting chemical reaction.

How did Mark Watney make potatoes?

Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, survives by fertilizing Martian soil with his feces, slicing potatoes, and planting the cuttings in the soil. This eventually grows him enough food to last hundreds of days.

What did Mark Watney eat on Mars?

In Ridley Scott's 2015 film The Martian, stranded astronaut Mark Watney's (played by Matt Damon) act of growing potatoes on the red planet is one of his first and most basic acts of survival.

What did Mark Watney eat in The Martian?

The Martian's hero, Mark Watney, eats a lot of potatoes during his time on the planet. Several days (ahem, sols) after Mark Watney discovered that he was alone on Mars—his fellow astronauts had evacuated the planet during a windstorm—he started planting potatoes.

Why can't plants grow in Martian soil?

Plants will not grow as well as they do in Earth potting soil, due to Martian soil's porous texture and lack of nutrients, but some will survive. Mars soil is not ideal for plant growth due to its granular and porous texture.

Can potatoes survive in space?

Its atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen and just 0.13% oxygen, which means the potatoes may grow fast but end up undersized. In addition, the dusty planet lacks ground water and there are winds of up to 60mph. But Jan Kreuze, chief virologist at CIP, believes growing potatoes on Mars is possible.

What is the problem with growing food in Martian soil?

If we were to grow food on Mars, it would most likely need to be done hydroponically initially, using artificial light. Without the protective influence of a thick atmosphere, the radiation from the sun would mutate and damage the crops if grown on the 'surface'.

Can human poop be used for anything?

Through recycling of poop that would have ended up in a landfill and polluted the environment, benefits such as biogas, fertilizer, fecal transplant, hydrogen fuel, building bricks, metals, and drinking water can be obtained. Therefore, human waste proves to be cheap and an environmentally-friendly alternative.

How cold is Mars now?

However, temperatures range from around -220 degrees F. in the wintertime at the poles, to +70 degrees F. over the lower latitudes in the summer. Various probes over the past few decades have found the surface of Mars to be rather desert like.

Can we grow plants on Mars soil?

Research suggests Martian soil has some of the nutrients plants need to grow and survive (see “Plants' Nutrients,” right). But because of Mars's extremely cold conditions, plants such as Watney's potatoes would need to grow inside a controlled environment, such as his Hab.

Why couldn t Mark replant potatoes?

When Airlock 1 breached, causing a gaping hole in The Hab, the potatoes were freeze dried and the bacteria in the soil assumed dead. Because of this Mark was unable to grow any more potatoes and could only eat the ones he still had with him.

How did NASA realize that Watney was still alive?

NASA eventually discovers that Watney is alive when satellite images of the landing site show evidence of his activities; NASA personnel begin devising ways to rescue him, but withhold the news of his survival from the rest of the Ares 3 crew, on their way back to Earth aboard the Hermes spacecraft, so as not to