The Martian: the Story of a Non-Human Human on Mars?

Last weekend I spent my entire Sunday reading “The Martian” by Andy Weir (I did get a little late to the game, my apologies..). I was hooked right away. Who could not be soaked up by this adventurous and intangible picture of imagining life on Mars! Not only has humankind not yet managed to send one of us to our neighbouring planet. Space travel in general is a fascinating, scary and surreal part of our existence. I believe most people have no idea what it means to as much as send a rocket into the orbit, let alone actually be there as a human being. It is basically science fiction come to life, taking place in this own little universe of space agencies and Elon Musk.
I am sure this is one important aspect that made the story such a success. It gave a description of a surreal life that is beyond imagination for most people. Of course, the James Bond-like storyline probably had its fair share in keeping up the excitement. While reading I was entirely soaked up by the story and basically lived on Mars during this day of reading. I literally flew through the book. But the longer I read the more I felt that an essential part was missing.
Imagine you are being left behind on an uninhabited planet some 11 space-travel months away from humankind. You are a well-trained NASA astronaut of course, you are prepared to survive in the hardest conditions mankind is capable of surviving in. You have the skills and the tools to work your way through every obstacle. But does this mean you are literally just a machine? Is this what astronaut training does to you?
Most of the story was a log protocol written by Mark Watney himself (Which I liked very much in terms of style. Combined with the change in perspective at later points in the book, this made it a great read!). Nevertheless what I would have wanted to know is how we think a person in this situation would actually FEEL. Watney never seems to have had a bad day, at least not in a deep emotional way. Sure he gets sick of eating potatoes and he misses speaking to other humans during those long periods of no radio. But those are mere side comments, that give the impression of a very rational description of the situation.
Overall this is in line with the tone of the book. For the largest part it is a description of the technical and scientific tricks he pulls to save himself every other day. The technical validity of those descriptions have been investigated by many (see e.g. here for more details). To me as a non-scientist it draws an image of unbelievable skill and expertise. Mark Watney has basically been pictured as a modern universal genius (which don’t really exist anymore due to the exponential growth of knowledge since Leonardo Da Vinci’s time). In a certain way this might be the human image of a superhero. So Weir told a superhero story. Superheros don’t have feelings of course, that explains it then.
For most people (including myself) it is already impossible to relate to an astronaut traveling through space for 10 months or living on ISS (click here if you want to know more). As a matter of fact it is becoming increasingly difficult for many people to spend a single day on their own in times of continuous sensory overload and social pressure to “not miss out” and “not waste time” by doing nothing.
I believe telling that same “The Martian” tale with an entire different subtitle would make it a whole new and immensely significant story. How does one not go crazy and lose motivation living in isolation with so little hope? For me that is the real challenge for a Mark Watney and the actual question to explore, even more interesting than exploring Mars itself.
This text has been previously published on http://themxmag.com
