The Martian Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
The Martian follows astronaut Mark Watney, left behind on Mars when his crew believes he was killed in a dust storm. A botanist and engineer, he must make his food, water and air last for years while NASA and his crewmates race to bring him home.
Much of the story is told through Watney's own funny, frank mission logs.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Mark Watney | Botanist and engineer stranded on Mars |
| Commander Lewis | Leader of the Ares 3 crew |
| Venkat Kapoor | NASA director of Mars operations |
| Mindy Park | Satellite engineer who spots that Watney is alive |
| Teddy Sanders | Head of NASA |
| Rich Purnell | Astrodynamics expert with a bold plan |
| Beck, Johanssen, Martinez, Vogel | The rest of the crew |
How does Watney get stranded?
Six days into the Ares 3 mission, a violent dust storm forces the crew to abandon Mars. An antenna strikes Watney and he disappears. Believing he is dead, Commander Lewis takes off. Watney wakes up alone, wounded, with no way to contact anyone and food for a year at most. The next mission is four years away.
↑ Back to the topHow does he survive?
Watney turns the Hab into a farm, growing potatoes from the crew's food supply in Martian soil mixed with their waste. He makes water by burning hydrogen from rocket fuel, nearly blowing himself up. Back on Earth, Mindy Park notices changes in satellite pictures and NASA realizes he is alive.
↑ Back to the topHow does he contact NASA?
Watney drives his rover to the old Pathfinder probe, digs it up and uses its camera to communicate with NASA, first by pointing at signs and then by text. NASA starts planning a supply mission. Then the Hab's airlock blows out, his crops die and his food supply is suddenly limited. The rushed supply rocket explodes on launch.
↑ Back to the topWhat is the rescue plan?
Rich Purnell calculates that the crew's ship, Hermes, could slingshot around Earth and fly back to Mars. NASA's chief rejects the idea as too risky, so the crew learn of it and decide to do it themselves, against orders. The Chinese space agency lends a booster rocket to resupply them. Watney must drive more than three thousand kilometers to the next mission's launch vehicle in Schiaparelli crater, surviving a dust storm and a rollover on the way.
↑ Back to the topHow does The Martian end?
Watney strips the launch vehicle to make it light enough, even replacing its nose with a tarp. He launches, but too slowly. The crew blows a hole in Hermes to change course, and Beck jets out on a tether to grab him. Safe aboard, Watney reflects that millions of people cooperated to save one man, because humans have a basic instinct to help each other.
↑ Back to the topMore about The Martian
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.