Creation of Plastic: Part 4 The presupply probes for Ares-3 launched on 14 consecutive days during the Hohmann Transfer window. Presupply 309 was launched third. The 251 day trip to Mars was uneventful, needing only two minor course adjustments. After several aerobraking maneuvers to slow down, it made its final descent toward Acidalia Planitia. First, it endured reentry via a heat shield. Later, it released a parachute and detached the now expended shield. Once its onboard radar detected it was…

Creation of Plastic: Part 3 The employees carefully folded the sheet, and placed it in an argon-filled airtight shipping container. Printing out a sticker, the man with the clipboard placed it on the package. “Project Ares-3; Hab Canvas; Sheet AL102.” The package was placed on a charter plane and flown to Edwards Air Force Base in California. It flew abnormally high, at great cost of fuel, to ensure a smoother flight. Upon arrival, the package was carefully transported by special…

Creation of Plastic: Part 2 All chemical reactions complete, the sheet was sterilized and moved to a cleanroom. There, a worker cut a strip off the edge. Dividing the strip in to squares, he put each through a series of rigorous tests. Having passed inspection, the sheet was then cut to shape. The edges were folded over, sewn, and resealed with resin. A man with a clipboard made final inspections, independently verifying the measurements, then approved it for use.

Launch Welcome to the launch of Martian Messages! I’m so excited to share this project with you all. Before we get started I want to provide a few disclaimers: COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: This production consists of the original blog writings by Andy Weir. The novel published by Random House is copyrighted, but the book presented here is permitted for distribution, given that said distribution is free and no person receives monetary gain from the release. Please do not send me money!…

Hey guys! It’s been a while, to I thought I’d make a huge post with a bunch of stuff that I need to say. First of all: 250+ readers???? Are you kidding me??? I love you all so, so much, and I’m glad that so many people are willing to take a chance on this project. It means the world to me, and I can’t wait for it to actually start! With that said… I am delaying the first post…

Hi there! I know I haven’t said much since creating this newsletter, but I’m so happy to see that so many people are interested in this project! It means a lot and all of the support over on Tumblr at @liopleurodean has really helped me make a lot of progress on Martian Messages. Since creating the Substack in October, I have: created a new email for people to contact me with questions created a new Tumblr (@martian-messages) to spread news…