In this chapter, Mark Watney figures out how to power a rover for long trips by taking one battery from a rover and putting it on another rover to give it double the power. He also uses solar panels to charge the batteries so he doesn’t have to keep going back to the HAB to charge the batteries on long trips. He goes on a couple short trips, and things go smoothly. He uses one to get plutonium to use as a heater for the rover. He plans on going on a twenty-day trip to another place with more supplies and equipment.
Chapter 8.
In this chapter, Cindy Warner goes through a press conference where they talk about what they need to do to help Mark Watney and what Watney is doing currently. Mindy, the person who noticed that Watney was alive, and the top executives in charge of the Mars missions talk about whether or not to tell the Ares 3 crew, the crew that Watney was with, that he is alive, but they decide not to. They also talk about whether or not to send supplies to Watney to keep him alive until they can discover a way to save him. Venkat, the director of the Mars missions, and Mindy Parks, talk about what Watney is doing, and Cathy goes through another talk on TV. Mindy Parks and Venkat track Watney on a map and discover he is heading to Pathfinder, an old rover that lost contact with NASA in 1997.
Chapter 9.
In this chapter, Mark Watney has been on the road for 8 solid days. He is using bags to contain his human waste. He charges the batteries, and sleeps, then he continues his trip. Pretty soon he arrives at pathfinder successfully. He finds an old beat up radio, packs it up, and puts it in the rover to take back to the HAB. Once he finishes that, he turns the rover around, and starts on the trip back to the HAB.
