Ares Program
Six souls. One world. A will that bends steel.
The Ares Program is NASA's series of manned missions to Mars. The story of the Ares 3 mission follows an American astronaut, Mark Watney, as he becomes stranded alone on Mars in 2035 and must improvise in order to survive. The crew of NASA's Ares 3 mission have arrived at Acidalia Planitia for a month-long stay on Mars. After only six sols, a wind storm threatens to topple their Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), which would trap them on the planet. During the evacuation, an antenna tears loose and impales astronaut Mark Watney, a botanist and engineer, also disabling his spacesuit radio and life signs monitoring system. He is flung out of sight by the wind and presumed dead. As the MAV teeters dangerously, mission commander Melissa Lewis has no choice but to take off without completing the search for Watney.
- Affiliation
- NASA
- Role
- Manned Mars exploration program
- First appears
- The Martian (novel/film)
- Status
- Active (as of story events)
Lore & Background
The Ares Program is NASA's manned Mars exploration program. Each Ares mission sends a crew to Mars for a month-long stay. The Ares 3 crew consists of six astronauts: Mark Watney (astrobotanist and mechanical engineer), Melissa Lewis (commander, United States Navy Submarine Warfare officer, oceanographer, and geologist), Rick Martinez (pilot), Beth Johanssen (computer specialist), Alex Vogel (astrochemist), and Dr. Chris Beck (flight surgeon and EVA specialist). The crew travels to Mars aboard the Hermes spacecraft. The program involves pre-positioning Mars Ascent Vehicles (MAVs) at landing sites years ahead of the crew. The Ares 4 MAV is already pre-positioned at Schiaparelli crater, where the next mission will land in four years. NASA personnel include Dr. Venkat Kapoor (Ares program manager), Mitch Henderson (chief of astronaut corps), Bruce Ng (director of JPL), Teddy Sanders (NASA administrator), Annie Montrose (NASA public relations chief), Mindy Park (NASA satellite imaging), and Rich Purnell (NASA astrodynamicist).
In Their Own Story
The Hab hummed with the low thrum of life support—a sound that had become as familiar as a heartbeat. Commander Lewis's eyes stayed locked on the comm screen, her voice flat but unyielding. 'We are not leaving Mark behind.' The crew traded glances—they all knew the math, the fuel margins, the odds. But this was Ares. You didn't scratch a name off the roster just because the numbers said it was hopeless. 'So let's figure out how to get him home,' she said, and the room dissolved into a storm of scribbled trajectories, muttered calculations, and the clatter of keyboards. On Mars, a lone figure in a patched suit stared at the horizon, betting his life on a program that had taught him to survive the impossible.
Reader's Guide
The Ares Program is NASA's manned Mars exploration program. The Ares 3 mission lands six astronauts at Acidalia Planitia for a month-long stay. After only six sols, a wind storm forces an evacuation. Mark Watney is impaled by an antenna, presumed dead, and left behind. He survives and must rely on his own resourcefulness. He grows potatoes in the Hab using an iridium catalyst to separate hydrogen gas from surplus hydrazine fuel, which he burns with oxygen to generate water. NASA discovers Watney is alive from satellite images. Watney plans to drive 3,235 kilometers (2,010 miles) to Schiaparelli crater where the Ares 4 MAV is pre-positioned. He modifies a rover, adding solar cells and an additional battery. He makes a three-week test drive to recover part of the Pathfinder lander and Sojourner rover, enabling him to contact NASA. The Hab canvas tears due to repeated use, causing depressurization that kills his potato plants. NASA prepares an uncrewed supply probe, but the rocket disintegrates after liftoff. A deal with the China National Space Administration provides a booster planned for the Taiyang Shen solar probe. Astrodynamicist Rich Purnell devises a slingshot trajectory around Earth for a gravity assist to get Hermes back to Mars. The crew of Hermes approves the plan and begins the maneuver, disabling remote overrides. Watney reaches the Ares 4 MAV, modifies it to reduce weight, and launches to intercept Hermes. Lewis improvises a plan using attitude thrusters and an improvised bomb to slow Hermes. Beck uses a Manned Maneuvering Unit on a tether to reach Watney and bring him back to Hermes.
Did You Know?
- The Ares 3 mission's crew includes an astrobotanist, a submarine warfare officer, a pilot, a computer specialist, an astrochemist, and a flight surgeon.
- Watney drives 3,235 kilometers (2,010 miles) from Acidalia Planitia to Schiaparelli crater to reach the pre-positioned Ares 4 MAV.
- The Chinese National Space Administration provides a booster originally planned for the Taiyang Shen solar probe to help resupply Hermes.
- Rich Purnell's slingshot trajectory around Earth uses a gravity assist to get Hermes back to Mars on an extended mission.
- Watney communicates with NASA by recovering the Pathfinder lander and Sojourner rover, then later uses Morse code spelled out with rocks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Ares Program?
The Ares Program is NASA's crewed Mars exploration initiative, designed to send teams of astronauts to live and conduct science on the Red Planet for extended stays. It represents the agency's most ambitious step beyond low-Earth orbit, turning Mars from a distant target into a place humans actually inhabit.
How many astronauts are assigned to each Ares mission?
Every Ares flight carries a crew of six astronauts who spend roughly a year on the Martian surface. The team splits its time between geological sampling, atmospheric research, and the unglamorous work of keeping the habitat airtight and the food supply alive.
What goes wrong during the Ares III mission?
A violent, unforecasted dust storm rips through the Hab, destroying critical equipment and forcing the crew to abort their stay early. In the chaos, Mark Watney is struck by a fragment of the rover and left behind, though the rest of the team believes he has died.
What is the Ares IV mission and why is it launched?
Ares IV is the follow-up crewed flight originally scheduled to arrive at Mars after Ares III. After Watney's survival is confirmed, the mission is restructured into a rescue operation, with the crew tasked with reaching him before his supplies run out.
Why is the Ares Program central to the story of The Martian?
The program provides the entire framework for the narrative: it defines the crew, the habitat, the supply logistics, and the communication delays that make Watney's isolation so desperate. Without the Ares structure, there is no mission to lose, no rescue to engineer, and no stakes for his survival.
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