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In the movie The Martian, why does Mark Watney say he hasn't had a shower after reuniting with the Hermes crew when he's shown to actually come out of the shower fully naked and shave that very day?

A year and a half seems to imply that he hasn't showered in his entire 561-Sol stay, which doesn't sound believable.

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    Presumably he meant that before that shower, he hadn't showered for a year and a half. I haven't watched the film, but I'm assuming he had access to a shower on Mars and chose not to use it, otherwise the answer would be pretty obvious.
    – F1Krazy
    Jul 26, 2019 at 20:46
  • @cat1992 How can it be unbelievable for someone who knows about showerig to go without one for 561 Sols? Countless billions of humans lived their entire lives without showering for countless thousands of years before showers were invented. And humans who lived in dry climates may have gone for decades at a time without bathing or washing with water. And Mars is a very dry climate.
    – M. A. Golding
    Jul 27, 2019 at 1:32

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Saving water

He has limited supplies of water. Of course he hasn't showered in his entire 561-Sol stay - it's possible (and in Mark's case necessary) to maintain hygiene while spending much, much less water than a shower does.

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    In the book, at least, Watney is never really wanting for water at the Hab after he makes his farming supply, and takes at least one full-body soak in a makeshift hot tub after throwing out his back modifying the rovers.
    – notovny
    Jul 29, 2019 at 20:38

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