The Martian

by Andy Weir

“We’ll remove the nose airlock, the windows, and Hull Panel Nineteen.” Venkat blinked. “You’re taking the front of the ship off?” “Sure,” Bruce said. “The nose airlock alone is four hundred kilograms. The windows are pretty damn heavy, too. And they’re connected by Hull Panel Nineteen, so may as well take that, too.” “So he’s going to launch with a big hole in the front of the ship?” “We’ll have him cover it with Hab canvas.” “Hab canvas? For a launch to orbit!?” Bruce shrugged. “The hull’s mostly there to keep the air in. Mars’s atmosphere is so thin you don’t need a lot of streamlining. By the time the ship’s going fast enough for air resistance to matter, it’ll be high enough that there’s practically no air. We’ve run all the simulations. Should be good.” “You’re sending him to space under a tarp.” “Pretty much, yeah.”