Apr. 10, 2036 (Sol 152) [08:01]WATNEY: How’s my care package coming along? [08:16]JPL: A little behind schedule, but we’ll get it done. In the mean time, we want you to get back to work. We’re satisfied the Hab’s is in good condition. Maintenance only takes you 12 hours per week. We’re going to pack the rest of your time with research and experiments. [08:31]WATNEY: Great! I’m sick of sitting on my ass. I’m going to be here for years. You…

Apr. 9, 2036 (Sol 151) “I know you’re all busy,” Teddy said,“so let’s make this fast. I need status on Project Iris from all departments. Venkat, let’s start with you.” “The mission team’s ready,” Venkat said. “There was a minor turf war between the Ares-3 and Ares-4 presupply control teams. The Ares-3 guys said they should run it, cause while Watney’s on Mars, Ares-3 is still in progress. The Ares-4 team points out it’s their co-opted probe in the first…

Mar. 19, 2036 (Sol 131) Rich Purnell sipped coffee in the silent building. Only his cubicle illuminated the otherwise dark room. Continuing with his computations, he ran a final test on the software he’d written. It passed. With a relieved sigh, he sank back in his chair. Checking the clock on his computer, he shook his head. 3:42am. Being an astrodynamicist, Rich rarely had to work late. His job was to find the exact orbits and course corrections needed for…

Mar. 18, 2036 (Sol 130) [08:02]JPL: We’ve spun up a project to get you food. It’s been in progress for a week or so. We can get it to you before you starve, but it’ll be tight. It’ll just be food and a radio. We can’t send an Oxygenator, Water Reclaimer, or any of that other stuff without powered descent. [08:16]WATNEY: No complaints here! You get me the food, I’ll be a happy camper. I’ve got all Hab systems up…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 122 (Mar. 10, 2036) The first thing I did today was line up rocks near the rover to spell “A-OK”. That should make NASA happy. I went in to the Hab again to assess damage. My priority will be to get the structure intact and holding pressure. From there, I can work on fixing stuff that broke. The Hab is normally a dome, with flexible support poles maintaining the arch, and rigid, folding floor material to keep…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 121 (Mar. 9, 2036) Got a good night’s sleep, and made real progress today. First thing I did was re-seal the arm. Last time, I had to spread the resin pretty thin; I’d used most of it for the faceplate patch. But this time I had a whole patch kit just for the arm. I got a perfect seal. I still only had a one-armed suit, but at least it didn’t leak. I’d lost most of my…

AUDIO LOG: SOL 120 (Mar. 8, 2036) RECORDING: I have a hell of a backache. The subtle and refined “hurl my body at the wall” technique had some flaws. It only worked one out of every 10 tries, and it hurt a lot. I had to take breaks, stretch out, and generally convince myself to body-slam the wall again and again. It took all damn night, but I made it. I’m 10 meters from the Hab now. I can’t get…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 119 (Mar. 7, 2036) I woke up last night to the Hab shaking. The medium-grade sandstorm ended as suddenly as it began. It was only a category 3 storm with 50kph winds. Nothing to worry about. Still, it’s bit disconcerting to hear howling winds when you’re used to utter silence. I’m worried about Pathfinder. If the sandstorm damaged it, I’ll have lost my connection to NASA. Logically, I shouldn’t worry. The thing’s been on the surface for…

Moderators’s Note: It’s me again! This is another spot where the timeline gets a little shuffled in the original book. Throughout the week, there are little excerpts that fans like to call “The Creation of Plastic.” All of them are in the archives if you want to reread them. If you can’t remember, I’d definitely recommend a refresher before the end of the week. Happy reading! LOG ENTRY: SOL 118 (Mar. 6, 2036) My conversation with NASA about the Water…

Moderator’s Note: It’s me again! This is another spot where the timeline gets a little shuffled in the original book. Throughout the week, there are little excerpts that fans like to call “The Creation of Plastic.” All of them are in the archives if you want to reread them. If you can’t remember, I’d definitely recommend a refresher before the end of the week. Happy reading! LOG ENTRY: SOL 117 (Mar. 5, 2036) The Water Reclaimer is acting up. Six…