What does the crew of Hermes decide to do to help Watney?

They decide to mutiny, going against NASA's wishes by doing the “Rich Purnell Maneuver” to return to Mars for Watney. Teddy Sanders had decided that it was better to take a big risk on Watney than a small risk on the entire crew. He was going to try the “crashlander”, which had a ~30% chance of success. read more

They decide to mutiny, going against NASA's wishes by doing the “Rich Purnell Maneuver” to return to Mars for Watney. Teddy Sanders had decided that it was better to take a big risk on Watney than a small risk on the entire crew. He was going to try the “crashlander”, which had a ~30% chance of success. read more

In the book, they make it clear that all communications are going through NASA, and that no mentions about Watney being alive were allowed through to the Hermes crew. It is easy to keep people in isolation when you are the only ones through whom the communications travel. read more