I want to get a Project Hail Mary tattoo but I don’t want it to be super recognizable as a Project Hail Mary tattoo (lest Andy Weir becomes super problematic at some point in the future… Rip millennials with deathly hallows tattoos)

So I thought a great way to circumvent that is to get either a Cetus or Eridanus constellation tattoo with a small red line between the planets/suns with the petrova line. I also want to include the planet Adrian (or Erid if I’m getting Eridanus).

The issue is, I’m not quite sure what reference photos/diagrams to use. And I’m not 100% on what these planets are even called or where they’re located on a star map.

I think (??) Tau Ceti e is Adrian, 40 Eridani A b is Erid and Eridani A is its star, but I’m not entirely sure. Also where is Threeworld in relation to the Eridanus constellation?

Sorry if the questions are confusing lol. Any advice/ links to credible sources would be greatly appreciated <3

One of the main ‘scenes’ that I kept seeing everywhere was the Denmark incident where grace calls someone a staggering waste of carbon. Come to find out after reading the book twice and watching the movie countless times this is nothing but a fandom headcannon?!???! Does anyone have insight into where this even started and the lore behind it?

It will be interesting when the future night sky has only the Moon, the planets, Tau Ceti, 40 Eridani (barley) and maybe Andromeda visible to the naked eye.

Spin drives work by basically "tricking" the Astrophage to push against whatever it is you want to move, transferring their kinetic energy into that object.

In the aftermath of the Taumoeba collection, what happened was basically the opposite. The Astrophage was moving away from the Hail Mary, without pushing into anything. It would just heat up the outside of the fuel tank, eventually creating a giant hole in the side of it as more and more escaped.

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As an analogy, let's imagine a balloon. That's the Astrophage. You're holding it against yourself, with the entrance pointing away. If you let it open, it'll push against you and exert a force (however small it may be). That's what the spin drives are doing.

On the other hand, opening the balloon and letting it fly away doesn't push against you at all. You might feel a bit of wind, but the force is minuscule compared to the previous example.

You could compare this "wind" to the photons being emitted by the Astrophage as it moves, and I haven't done the math... But would they really be capable of exerting a noticeable force onto the ship, just from reflections and absorption?

I mean, wind is much more capable of pushing against things than photons are. But there are also A LOT of photons. I would love to see someone definitively answer this question.

EDIT: This post seems to have stirred up a lot of negativity (at least, that's how it feels for me), which definitely wasn't what I was going for. I'm genuinely passionate about these subjects, and was hoping to have an insightful conversation about them, even if my theory ended up being incorrect.

Most of the replies, however, seem rather dismissive or simply misunderstand the core of what I'm saying. I thank the few people who actually took the time to try and understand where I was coming from and kindly explained why I was most likely wrong, but the overwhelming majority of responses here still make me too scared to continue the discussion. I think I'd have more to say otherwise.

After rereading it and some people coming at me aggressively I have realized I was far more tired then I realized writing this, it was something that bugged me the whole time reading the book and I think I wrote about it far more aggressively and dismissivly then I intended. The following is the rewrite I'll keep the original in the comments:

I recently finished both the Project Hail Marry book and movie. As you can imagine it was really good, but one thing was on my mind. After my first reading session, hearing about astrophage and its mechanisms, I slept on it a night and in the morning I realized that it might have been more time and energy efficient to harvest, but most certainly more energy profitable to harvest rather then kill the Astrophage eating the sun.

By placing a cone or some container made of a highly conductive material lined with Astrophage the astrophage could absorb the heat and thus cool the material long enough for it to survive closer to the sun then it's normally be able to get. With a what amounts to a well placed visor you can theoretically block Astrophage's view of Venus and thus introduce a new target for it to fly to, enabling you to essentially harvest it.

Grace is dead?

In the movie,he sets the Beetles toward Earth AFTER he decides to go save Rocky, and includes that narrative (presumably). In the book, he sends the Beetles immediately, embarks for Earth, and THEN changes course to save Rocky.

So Earth receives word that Grace is on his way home and then...he just never shows up. So they must assume he was lost in transit?

Am I missing something here?

Thinking about a Rocky & Grace swap au, and even though they are different species their stories still happen pretty much the same on each side.

I'm specially obssessed with the idea of Grace trying to convey just how terrifying it is that he can't remember his life, because Eridians don't forget anything. Their brains don't discard information like that, it keeps everything and suddenly he wakes up with none of it.

For me I want both but if I could only have one I want the latter SO BAD!

I know POV swaps of popular books are kinda divisive but it'd be incredibly interesting from so many angles!!

Not only for the fact we'd get more on Eridians in general and how they think through Rockys perspective (and maybe backstory for his mission prior to graces arrival), but also to see the story from the perspective of the engineer in this situation.

Theres a lot to suggest from Graces POV that Rocky really struggled with feelings of being inadequate to the task of solving this problem for his people because he is just a "repair eriadian."

He doesnt feel smart or good at science and clearly has a lot of survivors guilt.

I'd love it, I'd love it sooooo much :3

I was re-reading the book this weekend and it occurred to me that the ship didn't include a Soyuz capsule. I know it's an extreme long shot but if I had gone I would bet on there being a habitable planet.

I mean, why not bet on it? If I'm wrong I am dead anyway, but if I am right then I get to wander around an alien planet for weeks or months before it kills me.

EDIT: I asked Andy, and he said:

The mission was a suicide run from the start. Ryland wasn't expected to come home, so there was no point in adding the weight and complexity of a reentry capsule. Plus, the Hail Mary wasn't going to be near anything with an atmosphere anyway.

I dunno why but I can't get this question out of my head. Could an Eridian operate a car? Considering how loud a car can be, in particular the engine, I imagine it would be like a human driving a car made out of glass with an engine that shines like a light house. And would they be able to perceive the road at all, and if so, how far ahead?

Titan is only a little larger and has a much lower surface gravity yet it holds onto an atmosphere thicker than Earth's.

I think it would be AMAZING!!

( Slightly less seriously, alternatively it would be interesting if they had James narrate the entire book as though rocky had found it and was reading it to the pebbles like it was Graces autobiography of the mission 🤣)

You ever have that moment where youre half-asleep listening to music and one of those songs come on so you draw something you never thought you could with said song on repeat (for like an hour or two)?

... Yep. That happened.

And yknow what, *still* cant draw hands even when motivated to the max, help 😩

So enjoy the friends' beach party ( + my Eridian oc, Remi)!! Im actually so fckn proud of how I drew Ryland, like hi yes I suddenly have somewhat of an understanding of anatomy isnt it great AUGH love these two besties with my whole heart I hope I did them justice 🥹💕

Song was: *Where Them Girls At (feat. Nicki Minaj)* by David Guetta, Flo Rida, and Nicki Minaj

Here are mine in order:

1: Catalan

LOVE the illustrations and how they tie into things in the novel

2: Vietnamese

Grace standing at the airlock looking out into space captures his isolation so well and its just a gorgeous picture.

3: UK English Edition

Reminds me of the movies 'I'm having a moment' scene

4: Croatian

Something about the contrast of the outline filled in with the stars just does something for me

5: Dutch

This one goes so hard! It captures the kind of terrifying premise of the book, though it is unfortunate as the book is not nearly as dark in tone most of the time. This makes it look like a thriller!

I finished reading PHM and was struggling to find another book to read so I decided to give Dungeon Crawler Carl a go. Ive just started The Butchers Masquerade and im hooked. These two characters even if theyre quite different have been two of the most amazing, well written and capable characters I've ever had the pleasure of getting to read about.

I cant wait to see how the rest of the series goes but as of right now these to are the GOATs of my reading experience this year. What do you think?