The man behind the martian

Andy Weir is the author of the 2011 sci-fi novel The Martian (Crown Publishers), which became a best seller upon its rerelease in 2014. The book follows the exploits of Mark Watney, an astronaut accidentally left for dead on the surface of Mars; this month marks the release of a movie adaptation directed by Ridley Scott. Weir???s shift to author came after a career in software engineering, which turned out to come in handy in crafting The Martian???s plot. IEEE Spectrum Senior Editor Stephen Cass talked to Weir about writing his novel and the technology of space exploration.