The Martian
"The Martian" features realistic drama and science. Fox Movies

NASA’s announcement Monday about finding water on Mars was the perfect advertisement for “The Martian,” a happy coincidence as valuable as any clever marketing could have been. In the movie -- to be released in North America Friday -- Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is stranded on the red planet after a dust storm. His crewmates are gone, and Watney has to rely on his instincts and the bounty of supplies NASA provided for the mission. And since NASA worked closely with the cast and crew of “The Martian,” the movie is more science fact than fiction.

Warning: Minor spoilers ahead.

Martian Dust Storms

An unexpectedly strong dust storm forces the Ares 3 crew to return after just six days on Mars. The crew is forced to leave Watney after he is struck by a piece of the communication array. Luckily for future astronauts, the devastating dust storm is a product of Hollywood, adding some drama to an already dangerous mission. The Ares 3 settlement is hit by a 175 kilometer-per-hour (around 108 mph) dust storm, but NASA says these storms are weaker than hurricanes on Earth. Global dust storms – massive events that occur around every 5 ½ years – on Mars reach speeds of 60 mph, according to NASA. That’s troubling, but it wouldn’t register as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. "Even the wind in the largest dust storms likely could not tip or rip apart major mechanical equipment," NASA wrote.

The dust itself is a bigger problem. It has a small electromagnetic charge, so it sticks to everything. That's why Watney has to clean the solar panels daily.

Science All The Things

There's a lot of science in "The Martian," Watney eloquently explained in the trailer. NASA has a list of nine technologies used in "The Martian" that are real or in the process of becoming a reality. Growing crops in space is already a thing, with the Veggie experiment aboard the International Space Station providing red romaine lettuce to astronauts. Growing potatoes on Mars may be a bit of a stretch, but being able to plant crops is something NASA is working on for future trips to the red planet in the 2030s.

Water recovery is another important concern for astronauts, which is why NASA has the Environmental Control and Life Support System aboard the space station. Every bit of moisture -- from sweat to urine to coffee -- is recycled. Creating oxygen is also important, for breathing and getting off the planet. Oxygen is used in rocket fuel, which is why there are a lot of clever ways to get the element from the surrounding environment.

Rovers, Watney's Hab and his space suit were also modeled after NASA prototypes. While NASA is not using ion propulsion for manned spaceflight, the space agency is using the technology -- electrically charging argon or xenon to create a small thrust -- to explore the solar system. The Dawn spacecraft uses ion propulsion to explore the dwarf planet Ceres.

"For the most part, it's all as accurate as we can possibly get it … That was refreshing, I loved it," Scott said in an interview with the journal Science.

The "water on Mars" announcement coming the same week as the release of “The Martian” was just a coincidence, a NASA spokeswoman said to Yahoo Movies. NASA was not waiting for Friday’s release date but rather for the study’s publication in the journal Nature Geoscience.