50 Fun Facts About The Martian

Who wrote the novel The Martian?

He later wrote Artemis and Project Hail Mary.

How was The Martian first published?

Crown bought the print rights in 2013 for over $100,000 and published it in February 2014.

For how much did Weir first sell the Kindle edition of The Martian at fans' request?

It sold 35,000 copies in three months and shot to the top of Amazon's science-fiction chart.

What is Mark Watney's scientific speciality, which lets him grow food on Mars?

In the novel he is also the crew's mechanical engineer.

What is the name of the Mars mission Watney is on when he is stranded?

The story is set in 2035, on the plain of Acidalia Planitia.

What is the name of the ship that carries the crew between Earth and Mars?

The crew later vote unanimously to turn it around and go back for Watney.

What forces the crew to abandon Watney, believing him dead?

NASA scientists later noted a real Martian storm at that speed would have almost no force in the thin air.

In the novel, what impales Watney during the evacuation?

It also knocked out his suit radio and life-signs monitor, so the crew saw him flatline.

How many sols into the mission does the storm hit in the novel?

The mission had been planned as a month-long stay.

What crop does Watney farm inside the Hab?

Real potatoes were grown on a neighbouring sound stage during filming.

Watney makes water for his crops from what?

In the book he uses an iridium catalyst to pull hydrogen from hydrazine and burns it with oxygen.

Which old NASA probe does Watney dig up to restore contact with Earth?

The real Pathfinder landed on 4 July 1997 carrying the rover Sojourner.

Which NASA satellite planner is the first to notice Watney is alive?

Weir said he pictured her as Korean but never wrote it into the book.

Which NASA official decides not to tell the Ares III crew that Watney is alive?

Jeff Daniels plays Sanders in the film.

What destroys Watney's potato garden?

In the novel the airlock canvas tears from overuse, and he later loses Pathfinder too by shorting its electronics.

Which space agency provides the booster that makes the rescue possible?

The rocket had been meant for the Taiyang Shen solar probe.

Which astrophysicist devises the slingshot plan that sends the crew's ship back to Mars?

Donald Glover plays him as a rumpled JPL astrodynamicist.

How does the crew learn of the Purnell plan after Sanders rejects it?

Sanders backs them publicly but demands Henderson's resignation afterwards.

What does Watney partly dismantle to lighten the Ares IV ascent vehicle?

In the book the nose cap comes off and is replaced with Hab canvas.

How does Watney finally propel himself to his rescuer in the film's climax?

In the novel it is Beck, not Lewis, who goes out on the tether to grab him.

What job does Watney take after returning to Earth?

The film's coda jumps five years ahead to the launch of Ares V.

Who plays Mark Watney?

He had just played a stranded astronaut in Interstellar the year before.

Who directed The Martian?

It became the highest-grossing film of his career.

Which screenwriter adapted the novel and later also adapted Project Hail Mary?

He was Oscar-nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Jessica Chastain plays which member of the Ares III crew?

She prepared by meeting astronauts and scientists at JPL and the Johnson Space Center.

Which Community and Atlanta star plays the JPL astrodynamicist behind the slingshot plan?

He appeared in three films in 2015, including Magic Mike XXL.

Which actor plays the NASA administrator who keeps Watney's survival from the crew?

He had earlier co-starred with Christopher Lloyd in the comedy My Favorite Martian.

Chiwetel Ejiofor's casting as Vincent Kapoor drew criticism because the novel's character is named what?

Weir defended the casting, saying his novel deliberately avoided physical descriptions.

Where were the film's interior sets built?

Korda Studios sits in the wine village of Etyek, west of the city.

Which desert in Jordan stood in for the surface of Mars?

It had already played Mars in Mission to Mars, Red Planet and The Last Days on Mars.

What did the production give to Jordan as thanks for its hospitality?

It is now on show in Jordan's Royal Automobile Museum.

How long did principal photography last?

The budget was $108 million.

Which music genre, loved by Watney's mission boss and loathed by him, is a running gag?

The soundtrack runs from Donna Summer's 'Hot Stuff' to ABBA's 'Waterloo' and Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive'.

Which David Bowie song features in the film?

The obvious choice, 'Life on Mars?', was left out.

Roughly how much did The Martian gross worldwide?

It opened days after NASA announced evidence of liquid water on Mars.

How many Academy Award nominations did The Martian receive?

They included Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay, but it won none.

In which much-mocked Golden Globe category did the film's lead win Best Actor?

The film itself won Best Motion Picture in the same category, to widespread bemusement.

Where was The Martian screened on 19 September 2015, about 400 km above the Earth?

NASA had refused the same honour to Interstellar.

At the 2016 Hugos, the author of The Martian won which prize?

The film took the Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form the same night.

The author of The Martian once programmed Warcraft II at which video-game company?

He was fired from Blizzard in 1995 for poor performance and started coding at Sandia National Laboratories aged 15.

An Australian bush tomato was named after the novel's fictional botanist. What is it called?

Botanists honoured the character who famously grew potatoes in Martian soil, a feat later research suggests the toxic regolith would not allow.

Which NASA spacecraft carried the script's cover page on its first test flight in December 2014?

Exploration Flight Test 1 launched atop a Delta IV Heavy, circled Earth twice in 4 hours 24 minutes and splashed down in the Pacific.

In which year is the novel set?

The crew lands at Acidalia Planitia for a planned month-long stay, only for a windstorm to cut the mission short after six sols.

Which crater does Watney drive 3,235 km to reach, where the next mission's ascent vehicle waits?

The trek crosses Arabia Terra, where he improvises a way to measure a dust storm's shape and steer around it; he survives a rover rollover on arrival.

After shorting out his only link to Earth, how does Watney keep sending one-way messages?

Satellites photograph the rock messages; NASA can read them but cannot reply, which is why he never hears a dust storm is approaching.

Who composed the film's score, his fourth collaboration with Ridley Scott?

Gregson-Williams had previously scored Scott's Kingdom of Heaven and Exodus: Gods and Kings, and contributed music to Prometheus.

Which Gloria Gaynor anthem plays over the film's closing credits?

The exit music, alongside 'Don't Leave Me This Way', is a wry comment on Watney's predicament; the crew commander's 1970s playlist fills the film.

At which festival did the film premiere in September 2015?

It opened wide in North America three weeks later, on 2 October, and took $18 million on its first day alone.

Which Bridesmaids star plays Annie Montrose, NASA's director of media relations?

Naomi Scott was also cast as a JPL team member named Ryoko, but her scenes were cut from the final film.

Which actor, famous as Ned Stark, plays the mission's flight director?

Bean's flight director is the one who leaks the risky rescue plan to the crew; the film's first cut ran 2 hours 45 minutes before trimming.