will help to distract any homesick recruits from getting any ideas about heading back to Earth. Cos that ain’t going to happen.
From day one, Mars is intended to be a classless, cash-free society. Means of production are the shared possession of the community at large, and the distribution of resources and labour will be based on the principle from each according to his ability, to each according to his need. It should be noted, however, that this is clearly an aspiration, and initially a more accurate description might be from each according to his educational background, to each according to the perks agreed in his contract .
Meanwhile, Aster had knuckled down to her first video log.
“Right, what have I learnt so far? I think I’ve learnt that frigosleep isn’t as bad as I had feared. I’ve also learnt that Mars is a very, very long way away. This kind of separation has never been attempted before, and it does beg the question, why do this to yourself? I’m not convinced everyone on this transport has necessarily thought through this question.
“As for me, I think the sense of adventure outweighs the personal sacrifice involved. Hopefully I am doing it for the right reasons. I wish I could say the same for my fellow travellers.”
7. There’s Another Country
Several months later. The crew awoke one last time to make preparations for landing. By now the disc of Mars was clearly visible through the cockpit window and continued to grow in size noticeably by the hour.
“Ventura, please confirm everyone is ready for re-entry?”
“Affirmative Officer Beauchamp, we are all strapped in and ready for landing.”
“Okay I’m going for descent. Prepare for atmospheric impact in 60 seconds.”
Upon encountering the thin atmosphere of Mars, a teflon-coated heat shield would begin the process of reducing the speed of the Quirinus. Anyone not properly strapped in at this point would feel a slight jerk.
“Dayzee, I reckon we’ve just got long enough to finish this game. Your move.”
“I’m trying Zed, it’s a bit of a reach now I’m strapped in…”
Dayzee resorted to grasping the small wooden block between her toes, and tried to remove it very gently. It was never going to work out well.
“Guys, put the Deep Space Jenga away!” yelled Sky, exasperated at the idiocy of his fellow recruits.
Science Officer Tiggy Beauchamp engaged the landing systems at which point the ship’s computer took over. At an altitude of 15km and whilst still travelling at nearly 1km per second, supersonic retro boosters fired and the craft landed gently on one of the landing pads dotted around the Mars Colony base camp.
“Welcome to Mars!” yelled Tiggy.
There were whoops of excitement that she could hear coming from the sleep deck despite having taken her headset off. Tiggy ran down to join the others.
“Right, let’s suit up and then we can finally set foot on this planet. Is that a plan?”
“Yes ma’am!” was the general consensus.
Within minutes, the twelve Martian colonists plus Officer Beauchamp were descending the stairs to the planet’s surface. What greeted them was beyond their wildest imaginings.
MARS BASE CAMP
The UK’s Mars Colony is situated deep in the Valles Marineris , a huge, 7km-deep rift valley running 4,000km along the equator of the Red Planet. The depth of the canyon beneficially gives rise to a slightly increased atmosphere pressure and temperature, and at a width of 200km, the valley floor creates a wide flat plain providing plenty of expansion capability for the embryonic settlement.
When deciding on the location of the base camp, the planning committee of UK Space Command took a number of considerations on board. These included, but were not limited to, the health and safety of colonists, the availability of raw construction materials, tectonic and geological stability, and whether or not the land in question had previously been sold on eBay.
Once construction of Phase
From day one, Mars is intended to be a classless, cash-free society. Means of production are the shared possession of the community at large, and the distribution of resources and labour will be based on the principle from each according to his ability, to each according to his need. It should be noted, however, that this is clearly an aspiration, and initially a more accurate description might be from each according to his educational background, to each according to the perks agreed in his contract .
Meanwhile, Aster had knuckled down to her first video log.
“Right, what have I learnt so far? I think I’ve learnt that frigosleep isn’t as bad as I had feared. I’ve also learnt that Mars is a very, very long way away. This kind of separation has never been attempted before, and it does beg the question, why do this to yourself? I’m not convinced everyone on this transport has necessarily thought through this question.
“As for me, I think the sense of adventure outweighs the personal sacrifice involved. Hopefully I am doing it for the right reasons. I wish I could say the same for my fellow travellers.”
7. There’s Another Country
Several months later. The crew awoke one last time to make preparations for landing. By now the disc of Mars was clearly visible through the cockpit window and continued to grow in size noticeably by the hour.
“Ventura, please confirm everyone is ready for re-entry?”
“Affirmative Officer Beauchamp, we are all strapped in and ready for landing.”
“Okay I’m going for descent. Prepare for atmospheric impact in 60 seconds.”
Upon encountering the thin atmosphere of Mars, a teflon-coated heat shield would begin the process of reducing the speed of the Quirinus. Anyone not properly strapped in at this point would feel a slight jerk.
“Dayzee, I reckon we’ve just got long enough to finish this game. Your move.”
“I’m trying Zed, it’s a bit of a reach now I’m strapped in…”
Dayzee resorted to grasping the small wooden block between her toes, and tried to remove it very gently. It was never going to work out well.
“Guys, put the Deep Space Jenga away!” yelled Sky, exasperated at the idiocy of his fellow recruits.
Science Officer Tiggy Beauchamp engaged the landing systems at which point the ship’s computer took over. At an altitude of 15km and whilst still travelling at nearly 1km per second, supersonic retro boosters fired and the craft landed gently on one of the landing pads dotted around the Mars Colony base camp.
“Welcome to Mars!” yelled Tiggy.
There were whoops of excitement that she could hear coming from the sleep deck despite having taken her headset off. Tiggy ran down to join the others.
“Right, let’s suit up and then we can finally set foot on this planet. Is that a plan?”
“Yes ma’am!” was the general consensus.
Within minutes, the twelve Martian colonists plus Officer Beauchamp were descending the stairs to the planet’s surface. What greeted them was beyond their wildest imaginings.
MARS BASE CAMP
The UK’s Mars Colony is situated deep in the Valles Marineris , a huge, 7km-deep rift valley running 4,000km along the equator of the Red Planet. The depth of the canyon beneficially gives rise to a slightly increased atmosphere pressure and temperature, and at a width of 200km, the valley floor creates a wide flat plain providing plenty of expansion capability for the embryonic settlement.
When deciding on the location of the base camp, the planning committee of UK Space Command took a number of considerations on board. These included, but were not limited to, the health and safety of colonists, the availability of raw construction materials, tectonic and geological stability, and whether or not the land in question had previously been sold on eBay.
Once construction of Phase
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