MovieChat Forums > Mars (2016) Discussion > As a researcher, I see they got some thi...

As a researcher, I see they got some things right and some not.


Thank GOD they got the color right. That is a huge pet peeve. Despite it's nickname ("The red planet") Mars is not red, it's butterscotch colored. If you're standing on the surface, it looks like the Arizona desert (sans the cacti, etc.)

YES, observing from Earth in a black sky, there's a slight ruddy tinge. Okay. Fine. It bothered me, however that they insisted on calling it "The red planet" three times in the first 27 minutes of the first episode. As though any person on Earth not living under a rock wasn't already aware of the nickname.

The thing they got wrong, which EVERY movie ALWAYS gets wrong is the gravity. Most movies assume (incorrectly!) you automatically have Earth gravity just because you're in a pressurized environment. So inside crew quarters on the planet, they always show it with normal Earth gravity. Then they go outside in EVA suits, and suddenly they're bouncing around like the Michelin Man suddenly got inflated with helium.

What they did with this series, however is different. Instead of screwing up the gravity problem, they ignored it altogether. They're walking around on Mars exactly like they would be on Earth. And, for the record, Mars gravity is 38% of Earth's not one third, which makes Earth gravity 262% of Mars.

The first two episodes are all that have aired, but from here on out, look for the next big blunder, and that's going to be the force of wind. The atmosphere is 1% as thick as ours, so a 100mph wind on Mars would have the same force as a 1mph wind on Earth(Note however, that the highest recorded wind speeds on mars are in the 60mph range.) This was a major problem with The Martian, and the book it was based on.

For entertainment value, this is great fun and I give it a nine. Just don't try to treat it too realistically and then make assumptions about Mars that aren't true.

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Thank GOD they got the color right. That is a huge pet peeve. Despite it's nickname ("The red planet") Mars is not red, it's butterscotch colored. If you're standing on the surface, it looks like the Arizona desert (sans the cacti, etc.)

YES, observing from Earth in a black sky, there's a slight ruddy tinge. Okay. Fine. It bothered me, however that they insisted on calling it "The red planet" three times in the first 27 minutes of the first episode. As though any person on Earth not living under a rock wasn't already aware of the nickname.


Well it's been called the red planet for centuries... the color argument is also up for debate. I personally think they got the color a tad off. Depending on where and when you are on Mars, the color is going to look different. Here is raw color image from Curiousity:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=6012

What they did with this series, however is different. Instead of screwing up the gravity problem, they ignored it altogether. They're walking around on Mars exactly like they would be on Earth. And, for the record, Mars gravity is 38% of Earth's not one third, which makes Earth gravity 262% of Mars.


The difference in gravity is close to one-third. It's not exact, but close enough for scientist and astronomy professors. Where the hell did you get 262% from?

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1 divided by .38 would be slightly more than 2.63 but I think they went with 2.62 and simply used the percentage to show the relationship.

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That's an interesting point about the gravity differential going Mars to Earth as opposed to the other way around. Never thought of it that way.

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[deleted]

To be fair, it's pretty difficult to fake gravity consistently.

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Yeah, no kidding, what a pointless thing to complain about.

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Because energy is proportional to the square of velocity, the energetic effect of a 100 mph wind on Mars would be roughly equal to a 10 mph wind at sea level here if you assume 10 millibars pressure on Mars. The average pressure on the ground on Mars is closer to 6 millibars, making that wind more like an 8 mph wind on Earth. But, wind is notoriously nonlinear. These are all crude estimates.

If you are looking for science errors, look no further than "The Martian." Both the movie and the book have plenty of them. Then, what did you expect from an engineer?

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Instead of screwing up the gravity problem, they ignored it altogether.
Not quite - when Marta dropped the glow-stick down the cavern, it seemed to fall more slowly than 'normal' (especially in the long shot). Admittedly a subtle difference, but still noticeable.



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The thing they got wrong, which EVERY movie ALWAYS gets wrong is the gravity. Most movies assume (incorrectly!) you automatically have Earth gravity just because you're in a pressurized environment. So inside crew quarters on the planet, they always show it with normal Earth gravity. Then they go outside in EVA suits, and suddenly they're bouncing around like the Michelin Man suddenly got inflated with helium.

Both in this series, as well as in The Martian, they basically ignored the gravity. I don't find this to be that big a deal, because as someone else upthread mentioned, this is very difficult to simulate. It's something you just have to ignore and move on from in terms of their telling a story.

This was a major problem with The Martian, and the book it was based on.

Yes, it was a problem with The Martian, absolutely - but again, you have to ignore that and concentrate and the thousand other things they got right.

The same thing has to be said about Gravity - there were some things that they definitely got wrong, especially that all of those things would not be and were not in the same orbits. But you have to overlook that in relation to all that they got right - which is a sh!tton.




I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

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