Mars
Mars is the capital colony of the United Terran Federation. It is the fourth planet from Sol, and its proximity to Earth lends Mars enormous social importance within the Federation and amongst humans. It is the seat of government of the United Terran Federation and serves as its political capital.
Mars was remotely surveyed for decades before the first manned mission occurring in 12033. MarsX initiated colonisation efforts 5 standard cycles after, in 12049, by sending both robotic and human crews to prepare habitation modules for future colonists. Over the course of the next 27 standard cycles, the Martian colony began steady development, intermittently trading with Earth to bolster the local economy. After the Great Mistake, Mars experienced a population boom which overpopulated the primitive colony and briefly made it almost untenable. Social unrest followed, which only stabilised in the latter stages of the Restructuring. Mars would become the site of the MarsX-Black March first contact which would later result in unification of the other colonies under a single federal entity. The signing of the constitution occurred at Sagan and officially recognised Mars as the capital of the Federation.
The colony is subdivided into 18 constituent nation-states whose origins stem from the megacorporations that initially colonised the planet. As of 12276, the colony had a population of 8 billion people, making it the third most populous colony in the Federation, but the least populous of the three core planets.
History
Discovery and Naming
Exploration
Colonisation
Initial colonisation of Mars began in 12049 with the ambitious Mars Direct program.
Early Colonial History
Martian Independence and Social Unrest
Anti-corporate sentiment
Late & Post-Restructuring
Topology
The Martian surface is deeply covered by finely grained iron oxide dust, which gives the planet its characteristic red hue. The regolith is composed primarily of a silica-rich basalt. Concentrations of feldspar and hematite were formerly widespread, but have since been extracted for industrial use. The soil is slightly alkaline and contains concentrations of perchlorates which are toxic to animal and plant life. Once removed, however, the soil contains the necessary nutrients for plant growth.
Mars boasts several highly prominent geographical features that are indicative of its more tectonically active past. The extinct shield volcano, Olympus Mons, measures over 21 km from its base and is clearly visible from Martian orbit.
There are few major surface settlements visible from space. They can be observed as dark patches on the surface. The coloration is due to colored concrete, consciously designed to lower surface albedo and increase heat efficiency.
Biosphere
The lack of a natural magnetosphere causes Mars to be flooded with deadly ionizing radiation. The Martian soil also contains toxic perchlorates, which renders native life impossible. The vast majority of Martian life consists of humans, alongside introduced genetically-engineered microbes and plant life.
Evidence for Martian life has been tenuous. Mars is known to have harbored liquid surface water billions of years ago, which may have been habitable for life. Further, organic compounds have been detected in Martian substrate which may further suggest a possibility of life in Mars's past. However, such organic compounds have likely been the result of geological processes. For instance, the seasonal variations of methane have been confirmed to be due to the serpentinization of olivine. Due to the combination of numerous lethal factors, the general consensus among the scientific community is that life had never existed on Mars.
Whether Mars hosted life in its past or present will likely never be known. Colonization and the introduction of foreign organisms have irreversibly contaminated much of Mars' soil and rock samples. Any existing microbial communities that may have existed would have certainly been disturbed, if not outright destroyed, by extensive mining and industrial activity.
Atmosphere
Mars has no natural magnetosphere due to its inert core. Instead, a plasma toroid is “seeded” using a generator located on Phobos. This creates an artificial magnetosphere sufficient to prevent solar wind from stripping the atmosphere from Mars. Prior to the installation of the generator, Mars’ atmosphere was thin, at an average surface pressure of 600 Pa. Partial terraforming efforts have since increased average surface pressure to around 40,000 Pa.
The Martian atmosphere is primarily composed of carbon dioxide, with small percentages of argon, nitrogen and oxygen. There are also traces of methane and ammonia. These greenhouse gasses have been deliberately introduced through industrial processes to warm the planet.
Climate
The Martian year is about two-thirds a standard cycle. The average Martian surface temperature is 225K. It is generally accepted that Mars has eight seasons over the course of its year. The number of seasons is high relative to the normal four by human standards. This stems from the substantial variation in Martian surface temperature, despite terraforming efforts.
Mars has the largest and most violent dust storms out of any Federation colony. Speeds can exceed 150 km/h, which severely damages surface infrastructure. Such storms have the potential to span the entire planet and raise the surface temperature.
Demographics
Culture
Economy
Infrastructure
Energy
Despite only being the second-most populous colony, Mars is the largest consumer of energy in the Federation. These enormous electricity demands are due to Mars’ power-hungry life support infrastructure. The high demand of electricity makes Mars home to the galaxy’s largest fusion reactor power plant.
As a result of its distance from the sun and frequent dust storms, solar power is inconsistent and unreliable. The planet’s inert core renders geothermal power impossible. Thus, fusion, fission and wind are the primary sources of electricity on the planet. Hydrocarbons also accounts for up to 9% of the planet’s electricity generation, although these plants’ primary directive is to introduce greenhouse gasses to warm the planet. Importing hydrocarbons is also costly because of transportation costs and planetary government level tariffs.
Water
Main Article: Water on Mars
Mars' arid climate and lack of surface water means that adequately satisfying water demand is a challenge on the planet. While natural water does manifest in the form of groundwater reservoirs and polar ice caps, they are insufficient to sustain Mar's burgeoning population of 11 billion. Thus, to preserve the fragile Martian hydrology, and to minimize water contamination/wastage, Mars boasts extensive water recapture infrastructure. These include Windtraps (which are designed to harvest wind energy and residual atmospheric moisture) and Sietch Reclaimers (which can recycle an entire city's water at rates close to 99.9%).Despite its extensive infrastructure, Mar's remains unable to supply sufficient clean water to supply its explosive population growth. It is expected that the population will increase to 16 billion by 12850. Thus Mars also relies on water imports from two other Federation colonies: Europa and Enceladus. This water dependence has had dramatic economic and humanitarian consequences for Mars.
Planetary Government
Nation-states and Respective Capitals
| Rank | Nation-State | Capital City | Rank | Nation-State | Capital City |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Utopia | Lyot | 10. | Arabia | McLoughlin |
| 2. | Acidalia | Sagan | 11. | Margaritifer | Orson-Welles |
| 3. | Arcadia | Milanković | 12. | Valles Marineris | Lowell |
| 4. | Amazonis | Olympus | 13. | Tharsis | Perseverance |
| 5. | Chryse | Xanthe | 14. | Tempe-Lunae | New Armstrong |
| 6. | Isidis | Du Martheray | 15. | Noachis | Vogel |
| 7. | Elysium | Eunostos | 16. | Sabaea | Fournier |
| 8. | Tyrrhena | Briault | 17. | Cimmeria | Arrhenius |
| 9. | Hellas | Terby | 18. | Sirenum | Ptolemy |
Sol 4: Mars
- Chief Executive (of Mars Exploration Technologies Corp.)
- Chair of Board (of Mars Exploration Technologies Corp.)
Physical Characteristics
- Estimate
- Rank
