Mo-Cance t1_irj1tyz wrote on October 8, 2022 at 4:22 PM

Reply to comment by XeroxApple in Continent-Size Dust Storm on Mars Threatens to Shorten NASA InSight Lander's Last Days by Sariel007

Mars has an atmosphere, but it's only about 1% as thick as Earth's. Still more than enough to whip up dust and produce storms.

Arguably the most glaring scientific inaccuracy of the movie The Martian was that the storm in the opening scene was powerful enough to threaten the return vehicle, or to throw astronauts around. In reality, not much more than dust has a chance of being disturbed.

blueshirt21 t1_irj2pes wrote on October 8, 2022 at 4:29 PM

The author even admitted that was the biggest inaccuracy of the book, but he still needed a plot device to strand Watney.