Difference between revisions of "Mars"
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== History == | == History == | ||
| − | [[Image:Martian flag. | + | [[Image:Martian flag.png|thumb|left|Unofficial flag of Mars, used in Port Lowell]]''The history of Mars and the fen on Mars is rich, varied and unfortunately, hasn't been a major focus of the Fenspace collective's attention. So we don't really have anything good to tell you here. For the moment, you can figure that as soon as people started leaving Earth in waveships, Mars was one of the first places they hit in large numbers. Somebody was the first human on Mars, and that somebody is a very very famous person. Then the Trekkies moved most of their operations out there, the terraforming cartel formed and... well, "stuff happened" is the best way to say it. As we come up with neat trivia to fill in this gap, this notice will go away. --The Mgt.'' |
== Places of Interest == | == Places of Interest == | ||
Revision as of 01:20, 15 May 2010
| Mars | |
 | |
| Planetary characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Orbit | 227,940,000 km from primary (mean) |
| Diameter | 6,794.4 km (equatorial) |
| Surface Gravity | 0.33G |
| Year | 686.98 days |
| Day | 24.62 hours |
| Mean Temperature | 210°K (-63°C) |
| Atmosphere | .010 atm (CO2 95%, N2 3%, Ar 2%) |
| Water/Ice Index | 0% |
| Population (2013) | 250,000 |
| Political Affiliation | Fenspace Convention |
| Government | Direct Democracy |
| Capital | Port Lowell |
Since our first close-up picture of Mars in 1965, spacecraft voyages to the Red Planet have revealed a world strangely familiar, yet different enough to challenge our perceptions of what makes a planet work. Every time we feel close to understanding Mars, new discoveries send us straight back to the drawing board to revise existing theories.
You'd think Mars would be easier to understand. Like Earth, Mars has polar ice caps and clouds in its atmosphere, seasonal weather patterns, volcanoes, canyons and other recognizable features. However, conditions on Mars vary wildly from what we know on our own planet.
Over the past three decades, spacecraft have shown us that Mars is rocky, cold, and sterile beneath its hazy, pink sky. We've discovered that today's Martian wasteland hints at a formerly volatile world where volcanoes once raged, meteors plowed deep craters, and flash floods rushed over the land. And Mars continues to throw out new enticements with each landing or orbital pass made by our spacecraft.
(Text courtesy NASA's Mars Exploration Program homepage.)
History
The history of Mars and the fen on Mars is rich, varied and unfortunately, hasn't been a major focus of the Fenspace collective's attention. So we don't really have anything good to tell you here. For the moment, you can figure that as soon as people started leaving Earth in waveships, Mars was one of the first places they hit in large numbers. Somebody was the first human on Mars, and that somebody is a very very famous person. Then the Trekkies moved most of their operations out there, the terraforming cartel formed and... well, "stuff happened" is the best way to say it. As we come up with neat trivia to fill in this gap, this notice will go away. --The Mgt.
Places of Interest
As the most thoroughly explored place in Fenspace pre-wave, Mars has a number of native features that attract interest as well as the settled areas. Most people are familiar with the four giant volcanoes of the Tharsis Mountains and the rift valley of Valles Marineris. Also of interest is the Cydonia region, home of the Gearhead faction base Marsbase Sara and the infamous Face on Mars.
Fen settlements are scattered all over the planet. The largest settlement on Mars is the Utopia Planitia Shipyard facility in Utopia Planitia, not far from the Viking 2 landing site. The shipyard was designed to be permanent, despite the fact that the terraforming project intends for Utopia to be underwater once the underground aquifers melt. How the Trekkies intend to deal with this problem is as yet unknown.
Airy-0 Crater is host to the second-largest city on Mars, the unaligned town of Port Lowell. Port Lowell is the largest fendane settlement outside of Earth cislunar orbit. Populated mainly by members and supporters of the Mars Society who began migrating to Mars early, almost beating the Trekkies to the surface. Port Lowell is the center for "Martian unification," endlessly pestering the other settlements on uniting as a faction above and beyond their political origins. The city is also considered a major spiritual center in Fenspace, as it hosts St. Liebowitz's Cathedral.
The Pulper city of Helium is located on the northern rim of Marineris near Ophir Labes. Helium is the most cosmopolitan of the Martian cities, partly because there aren't enough Pulpers to fill an entire city and partly because the Barsoomian subfaction pulled out all the stops in creating the ultimate fantasy Martian experience. Helium is a city composed of soaring towers and inhabited by fen who live the crystals-and-togas lifestyle.
Southeast of Helium in Argyre Planitia is the Warsie outpost of Mos Eisley. Mos Eisley exists mostly as a way for the Republic to keep an official presence on Mars. However, the town does provide a good stop-off point for scientists working in the southern hemisphere, terraformers and other Martian nomads.
The enigmatic Castle Heterodyne, home base for a Pulper splinter group known as the Foglios, exists in an undisclosed location somewhere in the southern hemisphere. Most people figure the castle is located in the highlands around Hellas Planitia. Others contend that Castle Heterodyne lurks near the polar ice cap. A handful of conspiracy theorists have suggested that the castle is mobile, moving randomly from point to point across the surface.
Construction on the Grand Canal project, a plan to run an aqueduct from Hellas to Port Lowell, can be seen in the highlands between the two sites. Whether or not Mars will have sufficient water to fill the canal as planned remains to be seen.
Related Links
- Phobos - the major port in Martian space
- Deimos - home of the Mars Terraforming Project and the Banzai Institute
- Starbase 1
- Odyssey (Fenspace Infinities)
