Colonizing Mars

Upon Colonizing Mars

As the human race prospered, their first real objective was to colonize Mars. Initial expenses were astronomical. Ways to lessen the expense had to be found. Mining for raw metals abated some costs related to increasing the colony size and its population. Underground sources of water proved sufficient to maintain the colony but were inadequate for terraforming. And while the Mars colony grew quickly, it still had not even reached 10 million residents.

Efforts to terraform Mars proved more difficult than imagined. Without a magnetosphere the planet and colony was constantly bombarded by solar radiation. Furthermore, the temperature swings were much more dramatic from night to day. Let alone season to season, as happens on Earth. Originally the beneficial bacteria that was introduced, died. New hardier, more resistant bacteria had to be created by genetic manipulation. Of course this caused fear and outrage in many and not just the residents of Mars. Terraforming proved to be many experimental projects of wishful thinking. Some progressed better than others. More failed miserably.

The most efficient and safest housing devised for the Mars weather and radiation was thick adobe bricks. And living underground, of course. Living on Mars meant being trapped inside with few windows or briefly inside eXploration rovers.

Finding material sources for mining was difficult. These were scattered and typically far from the colony. Transportation tubes were eventually built to connect distant mining operations. These served to help eXpand the Mars colony as mining towns were established. Biomes were still considered too costly and impractical, although many wanted them.

While most raw materials could be found and processed on Mars, the more exotic materials and components, including the plexiglass panels used in the transport tubes and the vehicles themselves, remained an import from Earth. Very little was actually exported from Mars. Surprisingly, art was the number one export. So far the Mars colony was a tremendous money-pit.

The greatest benefit of the Mars colony was its Spaceport. Refueling of our interstellar vehicles using the second generation Pulse Plasma drives, made possible personal scientific exploration of the outer planets. In addition commercial mining applications of the asteroid belt could actually be profitable. Provided a rich resource could be located.

Mining the asteroid belt would prove to be the next great “gold” rush of the 21^st century. Operators of these remote mining businesses were encouraged to locate and mark Ice asteroids that could be used in the Mars terraforming operations. They were paid for each of these they marked. Remote mining operators often hauled these back for an increased bonus when their attempts to locate a rich asteroid failed and they were running low on fuel.

Still, Mars continued to prosper and the colony continued to grow. But the 100 million resident goal remained elusive. Remote miners became instantly wealthy as new sources of rare and heavy metals were found. The Mars spaceport was the hub for these resources and this colony was finally paying for itself, albeit indirectly.

A few generations passed and while Mars residents were aware of the risks associated with returning to Earth due to their low gravity and Earths greater gravity, few returned home to Earth. Mars became their new home. They had become Martians. Of those who did return to Earth, most visits were kept short. One notable incident made headlines when a Martians heart failed due to the stress induced by Earths high gravity. Martian bodies had become accustomed to the low gravity of Mars. In fact, subsequent generations no longer had the muscle mass of Earthlings and heroic feats of strength, running and jumping could only be performed by true Earthlings. This disparity was not lost on anyone. None born of Mars would ever return to Earth... willingly or for any length of time.

Attempts to reverse this adaptation were as wishful as those attempting to terraform Mars. This however, did not stop people from trying. There were some deaths and many failed experiments. Unfortunately, there were many more who were taken advantage of by charlatans. Perhaps as many Martians simply didn't care. The most successful attempts to counter Mars' reduced gravity came from variations of the Centrifugal Sleep Chambers (CSC) used in interstellar space travel. The CSC is a cylindrical section of the ship where beds are arranged horizontally to the cylinder. The CSC is both held in place and operated by linear motors. This allows for entry into the chamber from its center. The cylinder slowly rotates simulating 1.2 G's of Earths' gravity while the astronauts sleep, with their backs effectively on the ground. The CSC's natural simulation of gravity made obsolete hours of vigorous exercise that was originally used to stave off zero-G bone and muscle loss.

More and more generations passed and Martians became even more distinctive from Earthlings. The colony did grow although much slower. Few Earthlings wanted to “become” Martians not just in name but in appearance. Terraforming took a back seat to countering the effects of low gravity on Humans. Either some means of eliminating the effects of Mars' low gravity had to be devised or Mars would forever be no more than an outpost, a spaceport for refueling and traveling to distant planets.