The Dunatian

A Kerbal Space Program recreation of Andy Weir’s The Martian.

- Ian Birnbaum

I thought I knew the kinds of stories that would come out of Kerbal Space Program’s newest expansion, Making History. Now that KSP’s legendary modding community has access to all the scripting and planning tools it could ever need, I was sure we’d see recreations of the doomed Apollo 13 mission, recreations of Apollo 11’s historic moon landing, and probably even an interplanetary trading run inspired by the sci-fi TV show, The Expanse.

It seems foolish that I never saw The Martian coming. Author Andy Weir’s story of a lone NASA astronaut stranded on Mars is a perfect fit for the focused, real-world-adjacent rocket physics of KSP. Using the new mission planner, KSP forum member Mikki recreated the drama of The Martian for brave Kerbals to suffer through. Behold: The Dunatian.

ALONE

A lot of really bad stuff happens to Kerbals in their pursuit of interplanetary glory. Burned, frozen, squished, smashed, pulverized— Kerbals die in many different ways, but they carry on, unfazed. At the start of The Dunatian, though, I swear that Bill is looking terrified. He’s been left for dead on Duna, the KSP solar system’s Mars analogue, and his crew and his ride home are months away, nearing the end of their tragic voyage back to Kerbin.