Chapter 1

Mark Watney begins his log on Sol 6, explaining that a severe sandstorm exceeded design limits and forced an early abort of the Ares 3 mission. En route from the Hab to the MAV, debris struck and impaled Mark’s suit, and the crew, seeing his vitals flatline in the storm, presumed him dead and departed per mission protocols.

Mark later awakens buried in sand as his suit’s emergency systems keep him alive. The antenna’s position and his blood inadvertently help seal the suit breach until he can apply a resin patch, though the suit resorts to dangerous oxygen backfilling after CO2 scrubbers are exhausted, which finally wakes him.

He returns to the Hab, confirms the MAV is gone but the Hab is intact, and performs self-treatment: anesthetic, irrigation, and nine stitches, followed by antibiotics. He attempts to reestablish communications but finds the primary dish destroyed and the backup systems only usable through the now-departed MAV.

Assessing his situation, Mark realizes he has no contact with Hermes or Earth and is alone in a Hab designed for thirty-one days. He catalogs lethal failure points—oxygenator, water reclaimer, and Hab integrity—and concludes that, absent rescue or miracles, starvation or system failure will likely kill him.