www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KsVojEaoms

and who here hasn't already come to fear his powers?

Have you considered expanding your hobby base?

I would, but can't afford it.

Nice find!

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

This movie. Oh vey. Not sure if I'll see it. Not sure that Matt Damon is going to be able to jump start topsoil on Mars. Or Matt Damon's fictional character for that matter. Foods grown in inert materials with hydroponics replicate in some manner that which soil normally provided to growing plants.

Another factor seldom mentioned by Mars Colonization and Terra-forming Boosters is the sunlight factor. Mars gets approx 60% of the sunlight of earth in terms of intensity on the ground:

Teachers guide - Sunlight on mars | Tomatosphere

Actually having people on Mars would be like soap opera heaven. Always going to be some drama.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Fact-Checking "The Martian": Can You Really Grow Plants on Mars? - Modern Farmer

The book is an entertaining read.

X2. Super fast read also. Read it in less than a day by ignoring the wife on our combined day off. Now in response i have to wait for her to finish the book to go see the movie.

From what i hear the movie is very faithful with a few exceptions. Looking forward to it.

Refreshing to have no artificial bad guy or evil character. Just a man trying to survive and everyone trying to help him. Reminded me of "the hatchet"

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Good piece but they didn't address distilling water from air. Hard to imagine Martian air having much water vapor, given how thin the atmosphere is.

And I have to wonder if just your own poop would be enough to do the trick. This is not just amending soil but creating it wholesale.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

You need to read the book. Its very plausible

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