“Discovery News” and NASA want you to understand that the upcoming movie, “The Martian,” has some scientific errors made for the sake of drama, that is, making the movie watchable.
“Although dust storms on Mars come with their hazards, it’s highly unlikely that any storm would be powerful enough to strand astronauts on the surface or rip apart equipment.”
“The Martian Winds WON’T Blow You Away”
http://news.discovery.com/space/the-martian-winds-wont-blow-you-away-150921.htm
You see, folks, atmospheric pressure at the Martian surface is what we would call a vacuum (or, more accurately, a partial vacuum) on Earth. The winds of Mars have just enough force to move talcum-like dust particles. Even at sixty miles per hour, Martian winds would exert about as much force as a five mile per hour breeze on Earth. So, even the fiercest gale on Mars isn’t likely to move much mass.
Even if Mars could generate the winds portrayed in the movie, such winds would make launching a rocket successfully all-but impossible. More likely, astronauts caught in such a storm–a storm likely is impossible on Mars–would have to stay on the surface.
