Summary

Mark keeps a daily log Mars. He’s not sure who’ll read it. Perhaps someone in 100 years. His crew thought he died. He didn’t, but he would die on Mars. The Ares 1 crew returned to earth as heroes as did Area 2. On Ares 3, Mark was a lowly crew member under Commander Lewis but now is in command because everyone else is gone. The rest of the crew probably got back to earth. Mark holds no bitterness toward them. He would have done the same thing.

Ares ships get into an Earth orbit then board the Hermes to Mars. Hermes is powered by ion engines which allows for an accelerated trip. Ares 3 made it to Mars in 124 days. They used the Mars descent vehicle (MDV) to get to the surface. The living quarters is called the Hab which is stocked with everything...