Entry 3: Omission (P.S. Executives Suck)

 Hey, hey! I divided the book into nine parts to help me write some good blogs, but to be completely honest, I read the entire book a couple days ago. So I’ll be talking about the whole book for the next 7 blogs. Cool? Cool. The book was awesome though! I can’t wait to give y’all all the juicy details. The topic for today? Omission. I know, right? Weird topic to talk about, but it makes the book so much better. When a book can leave you wondering just enough to the point where you keep reading, you know it's a good book. Case in point. The Pathfinder. Mark journeys for twenty days to get to the Pathfinder and find a way to communicate to Earth. But Weir doesn’t tell you this. Mindy Park only says over and over that he’s been going in a straight line. Then he goes through the arduous read of having Venkat and Mindy figure out where he is going. Genius! Also, speaking of the Pathfinder and Sojourner rover, they outlived their expected lifespan, but in the book it says “Venkat pulled out his cell phone. ‘We lost contact with Pathfinder in 1997. If he can get it online again, we can communicate. It might just need the solar cells cleaned. Even if it’s got a bigger problem, he’s an engineer!’ Dialing, he added, ‘Fixing things is his job!’” (Weir 94) Number one, the revelation of communication is huge. If Watney can communicate with NASA they can not only keep him sane while he is alone on  a desert planet, but they can advise on ways to get things working and get Mark off the stupid planet! It’s HUGE!! Second is the research. I also looked on NASA’s website and it says this about the Sojourner and Pathfinder. “From landing until the final data transmission on September 27, 1997, Mars Pathfinder returned 2.3 billion bits of information”. See? September 27, 1997! It’s astounding the level of research this author put into this book. I love it! Some authors just take a failed mission or reveal an additional piece of tech Watney didn’t notice right away to explain communication. Weir is different, and it makes for a better book. Let me rant real quick about an additional bit of the book. I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY AREN’T TELLING THE CREW ABOUT WATNEY BEING ALIVE!!!!! They’re just letting these astronauts wallow in sorrow for a lost comrade, and not telling them he is alive. Even some of the high up executives in the book don’t like it, and I’m on their side. They have a right to know. It's their mission, and they should make the call, not the safe and sound NASA executives who don’t get it like they do. There, rant over. Till next time, bye.

Credit to this source for the date about Pathfinder: mars.nasa.gov/mars-exploration/missions/pathfinder.

Credit for this Image: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-exploration/missions/pathfinder/




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