[EGreg]

So it might work! Can we boostrap a real, nutrient-rich regolith and ecosystem from scratch? That would be some amazing terraforming - and some major value for mankind.

And here I thought The Martian's most unrealistic part was growing the potatoes.

[notthemessiah]

The most unrealistic part was the dust storm in the beginning. Not enough air pressure on Mars for wind to do much.

[adrianN]

Somebody did the math: https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/9301/could-you-fee...

[aiofgniaotnio]

The Martian is still pretty unrealistic. It's not possible to get enough light using the setup described in the book.