May 14, 2036 (Sol 185) Johanssen: Your poster outsold the rest of ours combined. You’re a hot chick who went to Mars. You’re on dorm-room walls all over the world. Looking like that, why are you such a nerd? And you are, you know. A serious nerd. I had to do some computer shit to get Pathfinder talking to the rover and oh my God. And I had NASA telling me what to do every step of the way. You…

Chapter 16 May 13, 2036 (Sol 184) Martinez: Dr. Shields says I need to write personal messages to each of the crew. She says it’ll keep me tethered to humanity. I think it’s bullshit. But hey, it’s an order. With you, I can be blunt: If I die, I need you to check on my parents. They’ll want to hear about our time on Mars first-hand. I’ll need you to do that. It won’t be easy talking to a couple…

May 12, 2036 (Sol 183) The Whiteroom was abuzz with activity as technicians sealed Iris in to the specially-designed shipping container. The other two shifts watched from the observation deck. They had rarely seen their own homes in two months; a makeshift bunkroom had been set up in the cafeteria. Fully a third of them would normally be asleep at this hour, but they did not want to miss this moment. The shift leader tightened the final bolt. As he…

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. 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…

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…

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…