The Martian - Movie - The bubble

[Omega0]

Hi,
I love the movie "The Marsian". I did not start reading the book (I'll do soon).
What do you think about discussing the physics?
I am wondering why the NASA in the end suggested to cut a hole in the rover and to build that plastic foil bubble on top.
There must be a really good reason to try to hold around dp=1bar with a foil...
Any ideas?

 

[Simon Bridge]

Did you see an alternative?

 

[Omega0]

Did you see an alternative?

Why not to leave it as it was? Shielded without destroying the hull? I really missed the point, sorry...

 

[Omega0]

Why not to leave it as it was? Shielded without destroying the hull? I really missed the point, sorry...

Is it simply to warm in the day and okay in the night to calm the body down?

 

[Algr]

Did you see an alternative?

Sure. Colonize Antarctica instead.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

The hole and tent above it was so that Mark could stand up in the rover, to stretch his legs without getting into his space suit. It gave the illusion of space in an area the size of Chevrolet Cruze.

And the book is free online, google for it. It's much better than the movie because he has time to explain what's going on. You only get about 15% of the book from the movie.

 

[Simon Bridge]

https://www.reddit.com/r/themartian/comments/3nen4q/why_did_watney_need_to_remove_the_rovers_roof/

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

https://www.reddit.com/r/themartian/comments/3nen4q/why_did_watney_need_to_remove_the_rovers_roof/

Doesn't address the roof unless I missed something.

 

[GTOM]

Take off the forward part of the shuttle, and seal it with the canvas, that was the most strange to me.
How could they think seriously, that it won't cause trouble, even if the air is thin??

 

[Simon Bridge]

The question asked was: "why ... cut a hole in the rover and ... build that plastic foil bubble on top?"
The answer off the link, quoting the book, is:

"I need to modify the rover to carry the Atmospheric Regulator, Oxygenator, and Water Reclaimer. I call them “The Big Three”. All three need to be in the pressurized area, but the rover isn't big enough. [...] I'll have to make structural changes to that trailer. And by “structural changes” I mean “cut a big hole in the hull.” Then I can move the Big Three in and use Hab canvas to loosely cover the hole. It'll balloon out when I pressurize the rover, but it'll hold."

Notice how this explicitly talks about the hole.
ie. He makes the modifications because the rover is not big enough otherwise.
The link also discusses how the movie did this part badly. Ie. In the book there are two rovers and one gets used as a trailer.

Why not to leave it as it was? Shielded without destroying the hull? I really missed the point, sorry...

As the above quote makes clear, there was not enough room as it was.
The link discusses the way the film fails at this part though ... so it was likely that there was also a filmaking decision behind the on-screen result.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

That hole was in the side of the rover, IIRC. The script writer put it on the roof because that was a convenient flat spot. In the book Mark didn't have a crane so he'd be unlike to chose the roof as the entry point. I also remember that the tent was attached so he could go into it from the rover without wearing his suit. A roof installation for that would have been ... awkward.