Re: Mission to Mars

In a message dated 3/16/00 10:00:59 AM Central Standard Time, 
siefert@milwpc.com writes:

<<  
 >	   The astronauts view a computer graphic of a DNA molecule
 >	   inside a spaceship that cannot take off because all the
 >	   computers are fried.
  >>

You are forgeting the hobbled-together nature of the working computer -
and 
the commo dish and computer were fried, tech education and creativity
got a 
working processor and monitor together - not outside the realms of
possibility

>	  The greenhouse also ignores a few other scientific facts:
>	  [1] There is no water vapor in the Martian atmosphere. None.
>	  [2] The sunlight at Mars is half that at Earth, and it is
>	  being filtered through canvas.  Plants can live off that?

Grow lights and water brought with them and recycled -besides we d not
know 
the greenhouse was NOT under pressure - the flapping tarps? Wo knows -
to 
show the increased wind? To flatter the set designer?

>	  Nice happy ending as well.  The astronauts merrily travel
>	  home to Earth, on a trip that takes a minimum of six
>	  months, in a ship that has no food.  Have fun while you
>	  starve to death.  Then draw straws to see who gets eaten.

It was an emergency recovery vehicle (ERV would you design a ship
without 
food supplies for the crew?

>	  In zero gee, making a helix composed of M&M candies
>	  *revolve* ??!!?  Only if the director never
>	  heard of Newton's First Law.	Or if there was
>	  an invisible black hole in the center, stretched
>	  into a line.
To get the helix to be stable (without spinning of course) would erquire
one 
to turn off the air fans in the room and the crew would stifle in their
own 
COtwo, but hey it was their to spike a revelation later in the film. The
ship 
looked good and the hamsterwheel configuration was interesting to see.