They abandoned ship supposedly because it was in a decaying orbit and they had no fuel left. BUT months later, the silly thing was still flying around and Draper finally had to make it self-destruct to avoid attracting the attention of the bad guys.
shareI know this is a reply to an old post, but I was thinking the same thing last night as I was watching it. In his diary, Draper did mention that the craft seemed to have settled into a low orbit, something that might have been unexpected. But even if they stayed with the craft, would there have been an advantage? Other than communicating with Earth, they would still likely have to bail if they were out of fuel, but at least they would have had a better choice of location given more time to eject.
It is bad to drink Jobus rum. Very bad.share
Well, food shelter communication air music and maybe plan to dock with any help coming.
shareHere's the real question -- why on Earth -- err -- Mars, does the very moderate looking remote control panel have a single button destruct switch?
Answer: Hollywood required plot device.
But I do appreciate the fact that they included a (semi)realistic delay in the visual explosion and the sound reaching us.
But I do appreciate the fact that they included a (semi)realistic delay in the visual explosion and the sound reaching us.