I want :

Map: first, a summary of extract. Second, thoughts and opinions. Third, themes.

The Martian

By Andy Wier

I finished making water some time ago. Im no longer in danger of blowing myself up. The potatoes are growing nicely. Nothing has conspired to kill me in weeks. And seventies TV keeps me disturbingly more entertained than it should. Things are stable here on Mars.

Its time to start thinking long-term.

Even if I find a way to tell NASA Im alive, theres no guarantee theyll be able to save me. I need to be proactive. I need to figure out how to get to Ares 4.

Wont be easy.

Ares 4 will be landing at the Schiaparelli crater, 3200 kilometers away. In fact, their MAV is already there. I know because I watched Martinez land it.

It takes eighteen months for the MAV to make its fuel, so its the first thing NASA sends along. Sending it forty-eight months early gives it plenty of extra time in case fuel reactions go slower than expected. But much more importantly, it means a precision soft landing can be done remotely by a pilot in orbit. Direct remote operation from Houston isnt an option; theyve anywhere from four to twenty light minutes away.

Ares 4s MAV spent eleven months getting to Mars. It left before us and got here around the same time we did. As expected, Martinez landed it beautifully. It was one of the last things we did before piling into our MDV and heading to the surface. Ahh, the good old days, when I had a crew with me.

Im lucky. Thirty-two hundred km isnt that bad. It could have been up to 10,000km away. And because Im on the flattest part of Mars, the first 650 kilometers is nice, smooth terrain (Yay Acidalia Planitia!) but the rest of it is nasty, rugged, crater-pocked hell.