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The crew arrives at mars for a mission to explore the surface.
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On sol (the martian solar system) 18 of their 31 sol expedition, a huge dust storm threatens the crew to abort their mission. During the evacuation, astronaut Mark Watney get lost. The crew thinks he is dead, so they leave him on Mars to save themselves.
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Mark Watney awakens after the storm, and returns to the crew´s surface habitat (hab). He realize he is alone at mars, and begins a video diary. He finds out that his only chance of rescue is via the next Mars mission, with was in four years.
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As a botanist, he improvises a farm inside the Hab ultiizing Martian soil. He uses the human feces to fertilize the soil, and water produced by extracting hydrogen from leftover rocket fuel. He plants the potatoes meant for thanksgiving for the whole crew. He is able to hold out for a while with food, and does so by producing many potatoes.
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Mark also begins to modify a rover in preparation for a long-distance travel.
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However, Watney faces his biggest problem in the book in what seems all at once. He faces a torn canvas in his home, his cropped gets ruined, his helmet cracks, he hurts his back, and he is dealt with many explosives.
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NASA reviews images of the Hab area and realizes Mark has survived.
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Mark discover "pathfinder", a Mars probe from the `70s that he uses to get in contact with NASA.
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Lastly, what seems like the climax of the book, Watney's crewmates decide to go back to Mars to rescue Watney, which is called the Pullner Maneuver. Watney prepares for the last leg of his journey by traveling several kilometers to Ares 4 where he finds a ship that launches him up into space. Despite the struggles of almost being sent passed out into the depths of space, Watney makes it to Hermes safe and back with his crew.
