Andy Weir
Eventually, while researching, you'll learn something you didn't want to know. Some fact that ruins a plotline you had in mind. The good news is that sometimes, learning all the facts can make for a much more interesting story than you originally had in mind.Collection: Learning
If someone offered me a free trip to the International Space Station, I would decline. I like Earth. I like the internet. I like Diet Coke. I have cats. I write about brave people - I'm not one of them.Collection: Diet
A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. Don't wait for an inspired ending to come to mind. Work your way to the ending and see what comes up.Collection: Work
Back in the days of Apollo, sending humans to the moon was the only viable way to get the scientific data we wanted. But now, with our computer and robotics technology, there's very little an astronaut can do on Mars that a well-designed rover can't.
Thanks to our modern era, facts are incredibly easy to come by. A few web searches for your subject matter, and you have all the information you could dream of.
There's more to research than just looking up facts. Eventually, you have to make subjective calls. If you're writing a science fiction novel, there's probably some speculative technology in it. You'll have to decide how to project existing technology forward in a plausible way.
My first book was so horrible I have deleted all copies of it. Thankfully, it was before the Internet, so there are no lurking caches of it anywhere.
I was born too late to experience Apollo 11, though I do trek to Dad's house every time there's some space event. There's something awesome about crossing your fingers and watching a tense Mission Control room do their thing.
I originally wrote 'The Martian' as a free serial novel, posting one chapter at a time to my website.
I study orbital dynamics as a hobby. My idea of a good time is sitting down and drawing on that knowledge to imagine a space mission from beginning to end, getting as many details right as I can.
I was hired as a computer programmer for a national laboratory at age 15.
Computer programming is pretty much guaranteed income. I'm good at it, and I like it.
Don't tell your stories to anyone. You'll be more motivated knowing it's a prerequisite to having an audience.
Just so we're clear, Mark Watney is who I want to be. He has all the qualities I like about myself magnified without any of the qualities I dislike. Mark Watney isn't afraid to fly.
Research into manned spaceflight is shifting from low-Earth orbit to destinations much further away, like Mars and the asteroid belt. But society will have to invent many new technologies before it can plausibly send people to those distances.
A story in your head isn't a story. It's just a daydream until you actually write it down. So write it down.
Designing a station with artificial gravity would undoubtedly be a daunting task. Space agencies would have to re-examine many reliable technologies under the light of the new forces these tools would have to endure. Space flight would have to take several steps back before moving forward again.
I don't even date; I'm terrible with women.
The reason space missions need artificial gravity is clear: humans simply did not evolve to live in zero gravity.
If you look up every last detail on your subject, you'll never finish.
I am not a brave man... I do not have the right stuff. Astronauts are really a cut above.
You want an audience. If you didn't, you wouldn't be a writer. The biggest motivation to write is the knowledge that someone will read it.
My father has a great love of science, and he indoctrinated me into it early. I think I was 12 or so when we designed a moon base.
There's nothing I would like more than to watch a manned Mars landing.
If the reader is rooting for the protagonist, they'll forgive you just about everything else.
I don't take Mars One seriously at all.
Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.Collection: Magic
Everything went great right up to the explosion.Collection: Explosions
If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it's found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don't care, but they're massively outnumbered by the people who do.Collection: Blood
Astronauts are inherently insane. And really noble.Collection: Insane
I do know that the best way to make a mediocre movie is to just transcribe the book.Collection: Book
My asshole is doing as much to keep me alive as my brain.Collection: Brain
Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It's like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it's hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you've gained all the experiences it had.Collection: Beautiful
Once I got home, I sulked for a while. All my brilliant plans foiled by thermodynamics. Damn you, Entropy!Collection: Home
How come Aquaman can control whales? They’re mammals! Makes no sense.Collection: Whales
I started the day with some nothin’ tea. Nothin’ tea is easy to make. First, get some hot water, then add nothin’.Collection: Water
The thing that is really hard about adaptation is that I try to only pick things I love because if it is something where you think, "Oh, that sounds like an interesting idea but I don't love it," then I can't do my job well.Collection: Jobs
Airlines need staff to fly and maintain their aircraft. They need to pay applicable taxes and gate fees. They need to buy new planes, repair worn-out parts, manage their company pension plan, and everything else a service industry has to do. But by far, the largest chunk of their non-payroll operating budget goes to fuel. That's what costs the most for any given flight.Collection: Flight
Problem is (follow me closely here, the science is pretty complicated), if I cut a hole in the Hab, the air won't stay inside anymore.Collection: Cutting
By my reckoning, I'm about 100 kilometers from Pathfinder. Technically it's called “Carl Sagan Memorial Station.” But with all due respect to Carl, I can call it whatever the hell I want. I'm the King of Mars.Collection: Kings
The planet’s famous red color is from iron oxide coating everything. So it’s not just a desert. It’s a desert so old it’s literally rusting.Collection: Mars