The Martian

Watney is fully engaged in preparing for the trip. He has figured out how to use the RTG to provide the heat he needs and to power the regulator. In addition, he has decided to build an attached tent for himself, using the Hab canvas, so that he can take a break from the rover and relax in a different space during the times that his solar cells are charging. He tests all of his equipment and inventories his supplies. It is sol 390, and he is scheduled to leave on sol 449. He begins to go over everything again, continuing to test and inspect equipment right up until he is due to start packing.

Also, in a humorous note, he realizes that, according to international treaty law, Mars is technically in international waters. Because he is not in radio contact with NASA until he gets to the Ares 4 MAV radio, he cannot get permission to board the Ares 4 MAV before he takes possession of the craft. Because of this, he is technically engaging in piracy, which makes him a space pirate.

Watney now packs for the trip. Mindy, who has been watching him, reports his movements to Venkat and decodes Watney’s Morse code communications. Everything seems to be going well, but then a problem arises: At a NASA meeting, a scientist reveals there is a dust storm developing on Mars. It will not be severe enough to affect Watney’s driving, but it will dim the light from the sun and hinder the charge of his solar panels. The panels’ charge will gradually drop until it takes five times as long to charge the cells. This will delay his trip, causing him to miss the Hermes as it passes by in orbit.

Because of their lapse in communications, NASA cannot warn Watney, and once the dust develops fully, they will no longer be able to see him by satellite. All they can do is watch the situation develop, and hope that Watney realizes what is happening and solves the problem on his own. Meanwhile, on the Hermes, the crew is troubleshooting to keep the ship fully functional, as it has been in space far longer than it was designed to endure. On sol 449, Watney finishes cooking all of the potatoes for his trip. He has run full diagnostics and performed final shutdown on the Hab. He has a moment where he realizes that the Hab has become home, but then quickly brushes it aside and turns his thoughts to the trip ahead.

As the chapter opens, it is sol 458, and Watney has been traveling for 10 sols. He has reached Mawrth Vallis, the first major milestone of his trip. His routine is simple: He travels for four days and then, on the fifth day, has what he calls an Air Day, when he reoxygenates the rover. Although he hasn’t been on the road for long, so far things are going well. To navigate, he has created a sextant, a 16th-century navigation tool. He uses the sextant to identify his latitude, and uses Phobos, as he did with the Pathfinder trip, to identify longitude. His altitude has increased, and he has gone from flat landscape to one that requires him to drive around craters and rocks. This makes his navigation skills more crucial.

On Earth, NASA, the media, and the entire world are watching him unsuspectingly approach the dust storm. It seems that by the time he realizes he is in the dust storm, it will be too late for him to get out of it. He notices the solar cells are taking longer to charge, but he attributes it to the age of the panels. It isn’t until he needs to replot his course that he realizes what is happening. To replot his course, he does an EVA at the Marth Crater. He notices the haze in the air, puts it together with the inefficiency of the solar cells, and realizes finally that he is in a dust storm. He communicates his knowledge to NASA via Morse code, and Mindy reports it.