This is my first review ever, but I felt like I should comment to clear up some of the science misconceptions.
First of all I would like to say I really enjoyed this movie and thought the acting, writing and cinematography was great. But that is not my specialty, so there will be plenty other more qualified reviews that cover those categories. This review will mainly cover the science of the film (at least the things I noticed from a single watch through).
Overall, I thought this movie did very well with the physics of the situation, such as the launch sequence, docking, the design of the ship and the attention to detail when it came to "gravity" situations. One review I read mentioned that the centrifugal tether design was theoretical and couldn't work due to the "energy that would be required to keep it rotating". However, this is incorrect as once the vehicle is set to rotating, the inertia of the system will keep it rotating at a constant rotational speed.
Also, from the same reviewer, he mentions that they should have scrubbed the mission once the stowaway was discovered. Scrubbing the mission at this point would be impossible as they are currently on a transfer orbit from earth to mars. The energy for this Mars Transfer Orbit (MTO) was provided by the MTO burn that happened around 3:30 min into the film. An orbit like this would rely on using the gravity of Mars to return home, or to refuel on Mars and relaunch for Earth. Trying to "abort" and head straight back for Earth on the outbound leg of an orbit like this would require enormous amounts of fuel that the vehicle is not carrying.
Although it is odd to me that they docked with the MTS after the transfer burn and not before. Seems like it would be much more difficult to rendezvous with the MTS during transfer.
The other reviewer also points out that these missions should have redundant systems, which is absolutely true. They should have a backup system to the CDRA, but I guess without this detail there wouldn't be much of a plot. It's kind of like Weir's sandstorm in The Martian.
And the other reviewer's last point about the algae I would mostly agree with as well. The small amount of algae is explained by the fact that its intended use was as samples for research. However, it does seem that the algae dies very easily and for no discernible reason. Typically algae is pretty hardy, just ask anyone who's owned a pool or aquarium. Maybe its a special weak algae.
Finally I would like to point out a few flaws I noticed myself. The first is small, but a strange little mistake. After they reach orbit of Earth and are burning for MTO they mention that they are now "Past max Q". This is a strange mistake because max Q is the maximum aerodynamic force on the vehicle. They should be out of Earth's atmosphere since they are performing a transfer burn, so there should be no aerodynamic forces on the vehicle. My theory is that they heard this term while watching the SpaceX launches and used it without thinking too much about it.
The other mistake in my mind is when they are tapping the LOX fuel lines to retrieve liquid oxygen. First of all, why would they have a tap like this? Maybe someone with experience working on the ISS or a crew capsule would know better, but it seems extremely convenient that they just have this tool onboard the vehicle. But the biggest mistake is the whole pressure situation. As someone who currently works on structural engineering for LH2 and LOX tanks for SLS, I can tell you that the pressure does not reach 500 psi or even 250 psi. And if it were at those levels, that pressure leak they mention would be extremely dangerous and probably catastrophic for the LOX lines themselves. If they were at 500 psi and she "tapped" into it, it would probably explosively fail and kill anyone nearby. Also, you wouldn't measure remaining volume of LOX by the pressure. Pressure builds up by boil off of the LOX and is automatically vented once it reaches a certain pressure.
The last point I have to mention is about the solar storm. Yes, we can detect solar storms early and yes you would want to be inside a radiation shielded area if it was directed towards you. But you would not be able to visually see the solar winds or CMEs in space. The reason we see them on earth is that they interact with the atmosphere and ionize the gases like oxygen, nitrogen etc, which causes them to glow like the gases within a neon tube. This is called the Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis. Since there is no atmosphere in space you wouldn't get this phenomenon. It's a cool visual effect though.
First of all I would like to say I really enjoyed this movie and thought the acting, writing and cinematography was great. But that is not my specialty, so there will be plenty other more qualified reviews that cover those categories. This review will mainly cover the science of the film (at least the things I noticed from a single watch through).
Overall, I thought this movie did very well with the physics of the situation, such as the launch sequence, docking, the design of the ship and the attention to detail when it came to "gravity" situations. One review I read mentioned that the centrifugal tether design was theoretical and couldn't work due to the "energy that would be required to keep it rotating". However, this is incorrect as once the vehicle is set to rotating, the inertia of the system will keep it rotating at a constant rotational speed.
Also, from the same reviewer, he mentions that they should have scrubbed the mission once the stowaway was discovered. Scrubbing the mission at this point would be impossible as they are currently on a transfer orbit from earth to mars. The energy for this Mars Transfer Orbit (MTO) was provided by the MTO burn that happened around 3:30 min into the film. An orbit like this would rely on using the gravity of Mars to return home, or to refuel on Mars and relaunch for Earth. Trying to "abort" and head straight back for Earth on the outbound leg of an orbit like this would require enormous amounts of fuel that the vehicle is not carrying.
Although it is odd to me that they docked with the MTS after the transfer burn and not before. Seems like it would be much more difficult to rendezvous with the MTS during transfer.
The other reviewer also points out that these missions should have redundant systems, which is absolutely true. They should have a backup system to the CDRA, but I guess without this detail there wouldn't be much of a plot. It's kind of like Weir's sandstorm in The Martian.
And the other reviewer's last point about the algae I would mostly agree with as well. The small amount of algae is explained by the fact that its intended use was as samples for research. However, it does seem that the algae dies very easily and for no discernible reason. Typically algae is pretty hardy, just ask anyone who's owned a pool or aquarium. Maybe its a special weak algae.
Finally I would like to point out a few flaws I noticed myself. The first is small, but a strange little mistake. After they reach orbit of Earth and are burning for MTO they mention that they are now "Past max Q". This is a strange mistake because max Q is the maximum aerodynamic force on the vehicle. They should be out of Earth's atmosphere since they are performing a transfer burn, so there should be no aerodynamic forces on the vehicle. My theory is that they heard this term while watching the SpaceX launches and used it without thinking too much about it.
The other mistake in my mind is when they are tapping the LOX fuel lines to retrieve liquid oxygen. First of all, why would they have a tap like this? Maybe someone with experience working on the ISS or a crew capsule would know better, but it seems extremely convenient that they just have this tool onboard the vehicle. But the biggest mistake is the whole pressure situation. As someone who currently works on structural engineering for LH2 and LOX tanks for SLS, I can tell you that the pressure does not reach 500 psi or even 250 psi. And if it were at those levels, that pressure leak they mention would be extremely dangerous and probably catastrophic for the LOX lines themselves. If they were at 500 psi and she "tapped" into it, it would probably explosively fail and kill anyone nearby. Also, you wouldn't measure remaining volume of LOX by the pressure. Pressure builds up by boil off of the LOX and is automatically vented once it reaches a certain pressure.
The last point I have to mention is about the solar storm. Yes, we can detect solar storms early and yes you would want to be inside a radiation shielded area if it was directed towards you. But you would not be able to visually see the solar winds or CMEs in space. The reason we see them on earth is that they interact with the atmosphere and ionize the gases like oxygen, nitrogen etc, which causes them to glow like the gases within a neon tube. This is called the Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis. Since there is no atmosphere in space you wouldn't get this phenomenon. It's a cool visual effect though.