The Martian (2015)

In 2035, the crew of the Ares III mission to Mars is exploring Acidalia Planitia on Martian solar day (sol) 18 of their 31-sol expedition. A severe dust storm threatens to topple their Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV). The mission is scrubbed, but as the crew evacuates, astronaut Mark Watney is struck by debris. The telemetry from his suit’s bio-monitor is damaged and Watney is erroneously presumed dead. With the MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) on the verge of toppling, the remaining crew takes off for their orbiting vessel, the Hermes. Watney awakens after the storm, injured and with a low-oxygen warning. He returns to the crew’s surface habitat (“Hab”) and treats his wound. As Watney recovers, he begins a video diary. Unable to communicate with Earth, his only chance of rescue is the next Mars mission. In four years, the Ares IV will land 3,200 kilometers (2,000 mi) away at the Schiaparelli crater. Watney’s immediate concern is food; being a botanist, he creates a garden inside the Hab using Martian soil fertilized with the crew’s bio-waste and manufactures water from leftover rocket fuel. He then cultivates whole potatoes from eyes taken from potatoes in packaged meals. He also begins modifying the rover for the journey to the Ares IV MAV site.

On Earth, NASA satellite planner Mindy Park, reviewing satellite images, notices moved equipment and realizes Watney must be alive. NASA director Teddy Sanders releases the news to the public, but decides to not tell the Ares III crew so that they will remain focused on their mission, over flight director Mitch Henderson’s strong objection. Watney takes the rover on a one-month journey to retrieve the Pathfinder probe, which fell silent in 1997. Using Pathfinder’s camera and motor, he establishes visual contact with NASA. NASA transmits a software patch to link the rover with Pathfinder, enabling communication by text. Sanders finally allows Henderson to inform Watney’s crewmates. Mars missions director Vincent Kapoor and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) director Bruce Ng prepare a space probe to deliver enough food for Watney to survive until Ares IV’s arrival. However, the Hab’s airlock blows out, exposing the Hab to the harsh Martian environment; the potato plants all die. Now, to save time, Sanders orders the routine safety inspections be bypassed. His gamble fails, and the Atlas V rocket explodes soon after lift-off.