17 Potato Recipes We’d Make on Mars (2024)

FAQs

17 Potato Recipes We’d Make on Mars? ›

The potatoes were intended by NASA's psychologists to foster a sense of fellowship among the astronauts, and this nod to the importance of humanity and community turns out to sustain Watney in a much more physical sense. In this way, the potatoes symbolize the tenacity of life, even in the face of overwhelming odds.

The potatoes were intended by NASA's psychologists to foster a sense of fellowship among the astronauts, and this nod to the importance of humanity and community turns out to sustain Watney in a much more physical sense. In this way, the potatoes symbolize the tenacity of life, even in the face of overwhelming odds.

In The Martian, Watney creates a large cylindrical space contained by clear plastic sheets, into which he dumps 126 square meters of Martian soil. To fertilise the potatoes, Watney turns to the only organic material present on Mars: human waste.

Airlock Breach

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.

The math works out for fertilizer, but did Watney grow enough potatoes? Watney estimates that he grew 2,000 potatoes and needed 1,100 calories per day (1,500 total, but he factored in his other rations).

While most of the native potatoes died shortly after their roots entered the 'Martian' soil, a few of them and most of the LTVR clones managed to grow and produce potatoes. “It was a pleasant surprise to see that potatoes we have bred to tolerate abiotic stress were able to produce tubers in this soil,” Amoros said.

“Commonalities between humans and potatoes” indeed. But in Ireland the potato is not a signifier only of death, and the cruel mercies of Trevelyan's brave new world of waged labor. It is also a symbol of nourishment, of sustenance, of the bonds that link families together, of Axomama and her sustaining offspring.

After NASA orders him to cut his rations, Mark decides to "dip his potato" in Vicodin, by opening a capsule and dumping the powder on his plate.

Potatoes were selected to be grown in space primarily for two reasons: their extraordinary resistance to various climate conditions and their excellent nutritional intake.

The Martian is a 2015 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. Drew Goddard adapted the screenplay from the 2011 novel of the same name by Andy Weir.

Can you survive on only potatoes The Martian? ›

However, they don't contain much protein, which could lead to muscle wastage over time – so like Mark Watney in The Martian, anyone trying to survive on just potatoes would need to supplement them with vitamin and mineral supplements.

The plants would probably be housed in a greenhouse on a Martian base, because no known forms of life can survive direct exposure to the Martian surface, with its extremely cold, thin air and sterilizing radiation. Even then, conditions in a Martian greenhouse would be beyond what ordinary plants could stand.

Growing food will be critical to long-term human missions to Mars. "In 'The Martian,' Mark Watney uses the Martian soil to grow potatoes in the controlled environment of the 'Hab,'" NASA writes in a blog post. "In reality, the soil on Mars actually does have the nutrients plants would need to survive on Mars!"

Mark Watney's 12 fresh potatoes represent his connection with humanity. It is significant that NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) included in them in the mission supplies as a treat for Thanksgiving, because Thanksgiving is a holiday where loved ones gather to celebrate their bonds with one another.

Let's get the big one out of the way nice and early: The dust storm that sets everything in motion at the start of the movie is not accurate. Although Mars does get dust storms, the atmospheric pressure is so low that the wind is negligible, although the dust itself can be harmful.

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.

NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers were identical twin robots that helped rewrite our understanding of the early history of Mars. NASA's twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, landed on Mars on Jan.