Timeline

The timeline of The Martian is as follows:

1958

 * July 29: NASA was founded.

1969

 * July 16 - 24: Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins went to the moon.

1975

 * May 30: The ESA was founded.

1994

 * October 12: Mark Watney is born in Chicago, Illinois
 * November 15: Alex Vogel is born in Germany

1995

 * July 15: Melissa Lewis is born in Missoula, Montana

1996

 * January 21: Rick Martinez is born in Brooklyn, New York

1999

 * August 2: Chris Beck is born in Hartford, Connecticut

2006

 * May 19: Beth Johanssen is born in San Jose, California

2011

 * At age 15, Martinez realised that his ultimate goal was NASA.

2022

 * May-September: Beth graduated from high school and then moved on to MIT.

2026

 * May: NASA completes the construction on The Hab.


 * Lewis was picked to lead the Ares III manned mission to Mars at some point in 2026 in NASA Group 35.


 * Martinez is selected for NASA Group 36.



2029

 * The crew of the Ares I lands on Mars, taking humanity's first steps on the Red Planet.
 * Chris is selected to be an astronaut with NASA Group 36.

2030

 * Vogel is selected as an astronaut for the ESA Group.

2032

 * Mark was selected to be an astronaut with NASA Group 27.
 * Beth was also selected to be an astronaut with NASA Group 27.

2033

 * March 23: After congressional approval, NASA formally announces goals and objectives for the Ares III mission.
 * May 4: The crew is screened and selected based on those mission goals.
 * September 1: Crew training begins. This can take up to two years.


 * September 16: Pre-supply missions for Ares III begin.

2035

 * June 29: The Ares III crew depart Earth to rendezvous with the Hermes Spacecraft in orbit.
 * July 6: The Ares III crew leave the Earth orbit for Mars in the Hermes.
 * November 7: The Ares III crew step foot on Mars.
 * November 8: The crew will make a series of departures from The Hab to complete their primary scientific expedition beginning with soil samples.
 * November 25: A powerful sand storm hits Mars causing 5 out of 6 Ares III crew members to evacuate Mars, leaving Mark Watney stranded and presumed dead.
 * November 26: Watney awakens and performs emergency surgery on himself to get the piece of shrapnel out of his body.
 * December 5: They were supposed to decommission The Hab, leave Mars and return to The Hermes via MAV.
 * December: People at NASA learn of Mark Watney's survival on Mars but decide not to tell the Ares III crew for two months.

2036

 * February: Mitch Henderson lets the Ares III crew know of their crew mate's survival.
 * At some point: The crew perform the  'Rich Purnell Manoeuvre' in The HERMES, resupply using the Taiyang Shen and turn back for Mars.

2037

 * February: Watney leaves Mars and returns to the Hermes.