The Martian: Chapters 1–3

by Andy Weir
Botanist and mechanical engineer Mark Watney was chosen for NASA's Ares Program to explore Mars, but when a sandstorm prevents him from reaching the departing spaceship, his new solo mission is figuring out how to use the limited resources to survive on a lifeless planet.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–7, Chapters 8–13, Chapters 14–19, Chapters 20–26
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. per se
    with respect to its inherent nature
    Ares 3. Well, that was my mission. Okay, not mine per se. Commander Lewis was in charge. I was just one of her crew.
  2. layman
    someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person
    I guess I should explain how Mars missions work, for any layman who may be reading this.
  3. regale
    occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion
    I could regale you with tales of how we had great fun on the trip, but I won't.
  4. breach
    make an opening or gap in
    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.
  5. delicate
    easily broken or damaged or destroyed
    The MAV is a spaceship. It has a lot of delicate parts. It can put up with storms to a certain extent, but it can't just get sandblasted forever.
  6. sustained
    continued at length without interruption or weakening
    After an hour and a half of sustained wind, NASA gave the order to abort.
  7. torrent
    a heavy rain
    Our main communications dish, which relayed signals from the Hab to Hermes, acted like a parachute, getting torn from its foundation and carried with the torrent.
  8. abate
    become less in amount or intensity
    The storm had abated; I was facedown, almost totally buried in sand.
  9. torque
    a twisting force
    Somehow I landed facedown, which forced the antenna to a strongly oblique angle that put a lot of torque on the hole in the suit.
  10. copious
    large in number or quantity
    Then, the copious blood from my wound trickled down toward the hole.
  11. residue
    matter that remains after something has been removed
    As the blood reached the site of the breach, the water in it quickly evaporated from the airflow and low pressure, leaving a gunky residue behind.
  12. expendable
    suitable to be used up
    But the space suits have to be portable, so they use a simple chemical absorption process with expendable filters.
  13. intact
    undamaged in any way
    As I crested the rise, I saw something that made me very happy and something that made me very sad: The Hab was intact (yay!) and the MAV was gone (boo!).
  14. doff
    remove
    Once inside the Hab, I doffed the suit and got my first good look at the injury.
  15. tertiary
    coming third in position
    The primary satellite dish had broken off, remember? And it took the reception antennae with it. The Hab had secondary and tertiary communications systems, but they were both just for talking to the MAV, which would use its much more powerful systems to relay to Hermes.
  16. flush
    having an abundant supply of money or possessions of value
    I'm pretty flush on EVA suits, too.
  17. robust
    sturdy and strong in form, constitution, or construction
    Each crew member had two space suits: a flight spacesuit to wear during descent and ascent, and the much bulkier and more robust EVA suit to wear when doing surface operations.
  18. render
    cause to become
    The solar cell array was covered in sand, rendering it useless (hint: solar cells need sunlight to make electricity).
  19. saturate
    infuse or fill completely
    It's intended to last five days before it saturates the filters, which means thirty days for me (just one person breathing, instead of six).
  20. forage
    collect or look around for, as food
    Foraging around the medical area, I found the main bottle of vitamins.
  21. rudimentary
    being in the earliest stages of development
    I could throw together a rudimentary dish out of metal I find around the base, but this isn't some walkie-talkie I'm working with here.
  22. inundated
    covered with water
    Adding it to water and active bacteria would quickly get it inundated, replacing any population killed by the Toilet of Doom.
  23. pathogen
    any disease-producing agent
    People have been using human waste as fertilizer for centuries. It's even got a pleasant name: "night soil." Normally, it's not an ideal way to grow crops, because it spreads disease: Human waste has pathogens in it that, you guessed it, infect humans.
  24. germinate
    sprout; produce buds or branches
    Within a week, the Martian soil will be ready for plants to germinate in.
  25. speculate
    reflect deeply on a subject
    This isn't a new concept I just came up with. People have speculated on how to make crop soil out of Martian dirt for decades.
  26. endeavor
    a purposeful or industrious undertaking
    The total floor space of the Hab is about 92 square meters. I plan to dedicate all of it to this endeavor.
  27. viable
    capable of life or normal growth and development
    To be viable, soil needs 40 liters of water per cubic meter.
  28. prolific
    bearing in abundance especially offspring
    My best bet for making calories is potatoes. They grow prolifically and have a reasonable caloric content (770 calories per kilogram).
  29. traverse
    journey across or pass over
    I have two Martian rovers. They have pressure seals, allowing the occupants to drive without space suits during long periods traversing the surface.
  30. efficient
    being effective without wasting time, effort, or expense
    The next thing to consider is how efficient I can be in growing potatoes.
  31. yield
    production of a certain amount
    I based my crop yield estimates on the potato industry back on Earth. But potato farmers aren't in a desperate race for survival like I am. Can I get a better yield?
  32. balmy
    mild and pleasant
    By setting the Hab temperature to a balmy 25.5°C, I can make the plants grow faster.
  33. tuber
    a fleshy underground stem or root, often used as food
    There will be no foul weather, or any parasites to hassle them, or any weeds to compete with for soil or nutrients. With all this going for them, they should yield healthy, sproutable tubers within forty days.
  34. elements
    violent or severe weather
    Unless you're stranded on Mars, everyone thinks you're dead, and you're in a desperate fight against time and the elements to stay alive.
  35. replenish
    fill something that had previously been emptied
    The Hab and the rovers use the same valve and tubing standards, so I was able to attach the pop-tents directly to the Hab. That'll automatically replenish the air I lose with my entries and exits (what we NASA folk call ingress and egress).
  36. ingress
    the act of entering
    The landing gear, ingress ramp, and fuel plant are still here.
  37. turbulence
    instability in the atmosphere
    Everything was smooth until we hit the atmosphere. If you think turbulence is rough in a jetliner going 720 kph, just imagine what it's like at 28,000 kph.
  38. plausible
    apparently reasonable, valid, or truthful
    He exceeded all plausible expectations of landings, putting us just nine meters from the target.
  39. catalyst
    substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction
    All you have to do is run it over a catalyst (which I can extract from the MDV engine) and it will turn into nitrogen and hydrogen.
  40. prevalent
    most frequent or common
    You like the smell of ammonia? Well, it'll be prevalent in my increasingly hellish existence.
Created on Mon Feb 22 19:43:41 EST 2016 (updated Sun Jul 23 10:10:51 EDT 2023)

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