SPU PO3 – The Martian Nina Groenveld | VT4A Making water using hydrazine: In the movie, astronaut Mark Watney used hydrazine from the rocket fuel and separated it into nitrogen and oxygen. The formula is N2H4 → N2 + 2H2. After this he burned the hydrogen with oxygen to make water. The formula is 2H2 + O2 → 2H2O. Martian soil: Astronaut Mark Watney is able to grow crops using the water he made and Martian soil. In reality, the soil on mars does contain the right nutrients for plants to survive there. However, the amount of nutrients in the Martian soil varies depending on the location, so additional nutrients might be needed. Besides this, the Martian soil contains a lot of metal. Crops grown in Martian soil might be toxic, so this can be …show more content…
The human waste fertilizer would provide some of the content the Martian soil needs in order to grow …show more content…
In this ED I am going to decide whether this is possible, or whether the director, Ridley Scott, cheated while directing the movie. At first, Watney used hydrazine from the rocket fuel to make water. This is possible, but there are dangers to this process as well. He planted the potatoes in Martian soil. Martian soil actually contains the right nutrients for crops to grow, but the amount of nutrients in the soil varies. For the potatoes to grow, Mark Watney must use soil with a large percentage of nutrients, so he had to be lucky to stay in an area with lots of nutrients in the soil. Besides this, the Martian soil contains a lot of metal. The effects of this on human health are not known, so there is a possibility that this is toxic. Dave Lavery, Program Executive for Solar System Exploration at NASA headquarters, said: “In terms of basic mineral content and chemical content, yes it would be possible to grow plants in Martian soil. We actually have experiments going on right now using simulated Mars soil, and it indicates that’s a very realistic idea” This shows that it is actually possible to grow crops in Martian soil. However, sometimes extra nutrients must be added to the soil, and in this case Watney uses packages of human