The Martian Page #8

About five seconds, Watney. Hang on.

I'll see you in a few, Commander.

four...

three...

two...

one.

Velocity, 741 meters per second.

Altitude, 1,350 meters.

That's too low.

It's fighting me.

Watney, do you read?

Booster separation complete.

Velocity, 850. Altitude, 1,843.

He's well below target altitude.

How far below?

Checking.

Watney.

Do you read?

He's probably passed out.

He pulled 12 G's on the ascent.

Give him a few minutes.

Copy that.

Main shutdown in three...

two, one...

shutdown.

Back to automatic guidance.

Shutdown confirmed.

Fuel reserves depleted.

Watney?

Do you read?

It seems there's some sort of problem

with the transmission.

I have interval pings.

Intercept velocity will be

11 meters per second.

I can make that work.

Distance at intercept will be...

We'll be 68 kilometers apart.

68 kilometers?

Did she just say 68 kilometers?

Come on, guys, keep it together.

Work the problem.

Johanssen, time to intercept?

39 minutes, 12 seconds.

Martinez, what if we point our thrusters

in the same direction?

Well, it depends how much fuel

you wanna save...

for the altitude adjustments

for the trip home.

How much do you need?

I can get by with about 20%

of what we have left.

If we use 75.5% of remaining

altitude-adjust fuel...

that will bring the intercept range to zero.

Do it.

Hang on. It brings the range to zero...

but the intercept velocity will be

42 meters per second.

And that's way too fast.

Then we'll have 39 minutes to figure out

how to slow down.

Martinez, burn the jets.

Copy that.

MAV to Hermes.

Watney?

Affirmative.

What's your status?

My chest hurts.

I broke my ribs.

How are you?

We're working on getting to you.

There was a complication during launch.

Copy that.

How bad is it?

We've corrected the intercept range,

but we've got a problem with intercept velocity.

How big a problem?

42 meters a second.

Well...

sh*t.

Commander, I have an idea.

Go ahead, Mark.

Well, if I can find

something sharp in here...

and poke a hole in the glove

of my EVA suit...

I could use the escaping air

as a thruster...

and fly towards you.

It would be easy to control

because it would be on my arm.

I can't see you having any control

if you did that.

You'd be eyeballing the intercept

using a thrust vector you can barely control.

Yes, those are all very good points.

But consider this.

I'd get to fly around like Iron Man.

Commander...

let's go Iron Man.

This is unexpected LOS.

Communication lost. Stand by.

Maybe it's not the worst idea.

No, it is the worst idea.

It's the worst idea ever.

Not what he said.

Using atmosphere as thrust.

What happens if we blow the VAL?

Wait, you want to open

the vehicular airlock?

It'll give us a good kick.

But also blow the nose off the ship.

And all the air would leave

and we need air to not die.

We would seal the bridge

and the reactor room.

Everywhere else would go vacuo.

Vogel.

Go ahead, Commander.

I need you to come inside

and make a... bomb.

Again, Commander?

You're a chemist. Can you make a bomb

with what you have on board?

Probably.

But I feel obliged to mention that

setting off an explosive device...

in a spacecraft

is a terrible, terrible idea.

Hang on.

You guys making a bomb without me?

Copy that. Can you do it?

Ja.

Houston, be advised.

We are going to deliberately breach

the VAL to produce a reverse thrust.

Beck, leave your suit on.

Meet Johanssen in Airlock 1.

We'll open the outer door.

I need you to place the charge

on the inner door.

Climb back to Airlock 2 along the hull.

Copy. I'm on my way.

I'm in, Commander.

Copy that.

Vogel, where are you?

I'm in the kitchen.

Okay.

Commander...

I can't let you go through with this.

I am prepared to cut the suit.

Absolutely not.

See, the thing is, I'm selfish.

I want all the memorials back home

to be about me.

Just me.

I should have left this guy on Mars.

Hey.

-Sugar?

-Yeah.

Can you hold this?

Liquid oxygen...

and some stain remover

that contains ammonia.

This thing here is five times stronger

than a stick of dynamite.

How do we activate it?

Can you connect this to

one of our lighting panels?

Careful.

Open Airlock 1.

I'm on the way to Beck.

Let's just hope

this is a good idea, guys.

It is.

Open A1.

-Hi.

-Hey.

You got it?

Make sure you're not in here

when this thing goes off.

Hey.

Be careful out there.

In space.

Don't tell anyone I did that.

Bomb set.

Leaving Airlock 1.

Guys, I'm running the numbers,

and even with optimal VAL blow...

we're gonna be off on our angle.

What's the intercept distance?

Johanssen?

260 meters, approximate.

That's too far.

Commander?

Martinez, close the door.

Open D3.

And leave it open.

Open B2.

Johanssen...

time to VAL blow after initiate?

15 seconds.

We sure know how to cut it close.

Commander?

Distance is too far. I'm going out.

I can do this.

It's not a debate.

I'm not risking another crew member.

Beck's returned.

Johanssen, initiate the bomb.

Ten seconds.

Strap in.

Five, four...

three...

-Brace for deceleration.

-two...

one.

Activating Panel 41.

Bridge seal holding.

What's the damage?

Worry about that later.

What's the relative velocity?

12 meters per second.

Copy.

Hook me up.

Done.

I have visual on the MAV.

What's the intercept range?

I'm checking.

312 meters.

Did you say 312?

Great. I'll wave at you guys as I go by.

I can't get to you, Mark.

You're too far.

I'm not gonna make it.

I know.

Beck, unhook me. I'm going after him.

Commander, I got this.

Mark, report.

On my way, Commander.

Damn it.

Johanssen, what's my relative velocity to Mark?

5.2 meters per second.

Copy. Adjusting course.

3.1 meters per second.

Distance to target, 24 meters.

11 meters to target.

Six meters.

Hold on, Mark.

I got him.

I got him.

I got him.

Way to go, Iron Man.

Beck, pull us in.

It's good to see you.

You...

have terrible taste in music.

Houston, this is Hermes actual.

We got him.

Watney is secure.

Contact in outer space with Mark Watney.

After a very long time, they have done

what many people thought was impossible.

Mission confirmation:

Mark Watney has been successfully rescued.

Grab a hold of him.

Hey, handsome!

Beck, close the hatch.

Hey, guys!

Houston, six crew safely aboard.

This is huge moment for this nation,

for the world...

and indeed,

for international space travel.

I can't believe anything you do works.

Hey!

Oh, God.

I can't believe it.

There's a little smell

going on over there, bud.

I know. I haven't had a shower

in a year and a half.

Don't make me laugh, I have broken ribs.

Hey, there.

-Morning, sir.

-It's an honor, sir.

Sir.

-Sir.

-Sir.

Morning, sir.

Welcome to the

Astronaut Candidate Program.

Now pay attention,

because this could save your life.

Trust me, I know what I'm talking about.

Let me get a few things

out of the way, right off the bat.

Yes, I did in fact survive on

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