Oct 7, 2015 · Judging by the latitude of Ares 3 landing site it is not less than 31.380 degrees (equatorial). We can safely assume that it is not greater than 32 degrees (give or take several tenths due to non-spherical gravity and influence of Jupiter etc.), either, since the only purpose of the Hermes at this stage is to pick up the expedition when they ...

Sep 8, 2015 · The Ares 3 crew were absolutely serious. As far as NASA was concerned, the crew was already beyond the pale as they committed to the return trip by completing the return to Mars maneuver - which NASA did not approve. Houston, be advised: Rich Purnell is …

Every other reference I have been able to find says that Ares 4 would be four years after Ares 3. Given the recent 'death' of Watney, Sanders would presumably be up-to-date on the Ares missions. If the Ares 4 mission had been delayed because of to Watney's death, there would presumably be a later reference, if only to note that Ares 4 was back ...

Jan 30, 2016 · In the book, the Hermes is intended to be serviced in Earth orbit and reused for Ares IV, so there is an indication of infrastructure existing to handle that - no need to haul their Earth re-entry vehicle as additional weight when they can be met by one at the "space dock" where the refurbishment will be carried out.

Oct 16, 2015 · The crew of the Ares 3 were tasked with remote-landing the MAV for the Ares 4 mission. Placing the two sites relatively close may have made this easier (due to improved radio reception or shared weather telemetry, perhaps?).

Jun 15, 2016 · By Sol 7 he is already thinking of Ares 4: There'll be humans back on Mars in about four years when Ares 4 arrives (assuming they didn't cancel the program in the wake of my 'death'). Ares 4 will be landing at the Schiaparelli crater, which is about 3200 kilometers away from my location here in Acidalia Planitia.

Oct 11, 2015 · But that wouldn't have been as dramatic.The big windows on the Ares III also seemed a bit silly & made the ship look like a 5 star hotel. – RobertF Commented Nov 2, 2015 at 15:22

Oct 19, 2016 · Naturally, they didn’t send us to Mars until they’d confirmed that all the supplies had made it to the surface and their containers weren’t breached. Start to finish, including supply missions, a Mars mission takes about three years. In fact, there were Ares 3 supplies en route to Mars while the Ares 2 crew were on their way home.

Mar 13, 2020 · MARK WATNEY: Every Ares mission requires three years of pre-supplies. So NASA decided a long time ago it's a lot easier... to send some of the stuff beforehand rather than bring it with us. So, as a result, the MAV for Ares 4... is already there at the Schiaparelli Crater , …

Option (c): send the Hermes on a fly-by trajectory to Earth for gravity assist to a fly-by trajectory to Mars, hoping that b-1) the resupply from the Taiyang Shen is successful, b-3) the Hermes can survive deep space for another 2 years past its maintenance window, release the probe on approach at escape velocity towards Mars, use aerobraking ...