Technology & Perspectives

Surviving on Mars

Sebastian Szameitat, AFM

Originally published 16 April 2026

A few weeks ago, after a long pause, I sat down and watched The Martian again. If you haven’t watched it, it’s a movie about an astronaut accidentally left behind on Mars, forced to survive alone with limited resources, no rescue plan, and a very long list of things that can go wrong.

I liked the film the first time I saw it. Most people do. It is clever, funny, and full of science doing its very best under terrible conditions.

But this time, it landed differently.

Not because the movie had changed. Because I had.

Perhaps it is one of those stories you only truly understand later. Not because it is complicated, but because you need to have carried a certain kind of responsibility yourself before it clicks.

Watching it now, as a self-employed professional, I realised something: this is not really a movie about Mars. It is a movie about work. And about responsibility, when nobody stands next to you telling you what to do next.

Not a hero story

Mark Watney is often described as a hero.

That has always felt slightly off.

He does not survive because he is heroic. He survives because he is professional.

There are no grand speeches. No moments of sudden inspiration. No cinematic breakthroughs where everything magically falls into place.

Instead, there is:

planning
documenting
checking
rationing
adjusting assumptions
accepting mistakes
and starting again

Again and again.

It is not glamorous. It is not romantic. It is not even particularly dramatic.

It is simply the steady application of competence under uncertainty.

Which, once you have lived it, feels oddly familiar.

Alone does not mean adventurous

Self-employment is often described as bold, brave, or adventurous.

In reality, it is usually none of those things.

It is not about taking spectacular risks. It is about taking responsibility for many small decisions, repeatedly, without applause.

Like Watney on Mars, you do not wake up thinking: “Today I shall be courageous.”

You wake up thinking: “What is the most sensible thing I can do with what I have?”

That mindset is recognisable to many:

freelancers
consultants
founders
independent professionals of all kinds

The work is not demanding because it is exciting. It is demanding because mistakes are not theoretical.

When something breaks, it breaks for you.

Systems beat optimism

One of the quiet lessons of The Martian is that optimism is not a strategy.

Watney survives because he builds systems:

oxygen budgets
food calculations
energy plans
backup assumptions

He does not hope that things will work out. He assumes that they will go wrong, and prepares accordingly.

That principle translates remarkably well into everyday professional life.

Whether you are:

running a business
building a product
advising clients
or simply working independently

The real question is rarely if something will fail.

The question is: what happens when it does?

Good work is not about brilliance. It is about survivability.

Responsibility is not delegable

Help exists in the movie.

People on Earth work relentlessly. The crew of the Hermes does not give up. Support systems function as well as they can.

And yet, there is a line that cannot be crossed.

No one can make the final decision for Watney. No one can take responsibility from him.

That part of the story feels particularly close to home.

In independent work:

advice exists
partners exist
networks exist

But responsibility stays put.

You can ask for input. You can collaborate. You can share thinking.

At some point, however, someone must decide. And that person signs their own name.

This is not a complaint. And certainly not a lament.

It is simply the nature of the work.

Not forgotten, but still responsible

Watney is alone on the planet. But he is not abandoned.

That distinction matters.

The Hermes crew keeps working in the background – quietly, persistently, without heroics. They cannot solve the problem for him, but they refuse to disappear.

That is how good professional networks tend to work in real life as well.

They do not remove responsibility. They do not replace thinking. They do not guarantee outcomes.

But they provide stability.

Knowing that others share similar standards and discipline does not make decisions easier, but it makes them steadier. And sometimes, steadiness is everything.

Why this story matters now

We live in a time of remarkable tools.

Automation is accelerating. AI is improving rapidly. Systems are becoming faster, smarter, and more supportive.

And yet, one thing stubbornly refuses to disappear:

Responsibility remains human.

It can be supported. It can be structured. It can be informed. But it cannot be outsourced.

That is true on Mars. And it is true in everyday professional life.

A quiet ending

When the film ends, Mark Watney is rescued.

But the most important part of the story happens earlier.

In the long stretch where nobody knows whether it will work out. Where progress is slow. Where mistakes matter. And where there is no audience.

At the end, this is not really a story about Mars or self-employment.

It is about responsibility, when nobody stands next to you. About decisions that are not delegable. And about continuing to work carefully and honestly, even when there is no applause.

Maybe the real takeaway is not that this deserves recognition, but that it requires something quieter.

Respect for the work.

Respect for the craft.

And, occasionally, respect for oneself

…for showing up, doing the job properly, and carrying responsibility without drama.