Martian History

Humans first start to settle Mars. An international effort is taken to rescue stranded astronaut Mark Watney after his expedition team is forced to leave during a freak dust storm.

While modding his own private three-man yacht, Martian Solomon Epstein accidentally invents the Epstein Drive - a hyper-effective fusion-based space engine. This drive utilized magnetic-coil exhaust to increase drive efficiency, enabling spaceships to sustain thrust throughout the entire voyage.   The design was unexpected efficient, and Epstein's drive accelerated continuously at around 11.7g for approximately 37 hours before finally running out of fuel. The yacht reached an end-speed velocity of approximately 5% the speed of light. Unfortunately for Solomon, he died from the high acceleration within minutes and was unable to appreciate the magnitude of his invention.   Once his designs were discovered, the Martian Colonial Government suddenly had access to the outer reaches of the solar system. This gave them a massive technological lead over the old ships of Earth and escalated tensions that had been building over the past century.   Archival video of this event can be found here

Tensions between Earth and Mars had been rising ever since the Martian request for independence was unanimously denied less than 6 years previously. Now, using the Epstein drive as a bargaining chip, the Martian Colonial Government once again requested independence from Earth, in exchange for sharing the technology. Realizing that the MCG could cut off Earth from the wealth of the Belt and Outer Planets (not to mention that if things escalated to a hot war, the Earther ships would be incredibly outclassed by the first generation of Martian ships with Epstein drives), the UN quickly agrees to the offer.   Mars is finally independent from far old Earth.

The Martian Colonial Government formally creates the newly independent Martian Congressional Republic (MCR). Mars is a rising power in the solar system and is fully autonomous and self-sustaining.   However, Martians are still very aware that many aspects of their life are still very much tied to mother Earth. From the names of their cities (even the capital of Mars is named Londres Nova) to their units of time (Days, Weeks, Months, and Years are still used alongside the Martian Sol -24 hours and 39 minutes- and Cycle -687 days-)

Due to rising tensions between Earth and Mars, as well as continually increasing instances of piracy in the Belt, the UN and the MCR agree to form the EMCN - The Earth-Mars Coalition Navy as the ultimate peace-keeping force in the solar system. This is undertaken in order to force the two planets to work together while also keeping tabs on each other's military strength. The alliance is tenuous, and to most soldiers and officers in the EMCN there really are still two separate navies. However, this union is doing its purpose of keeping the nuclear planetbusters pointed away from each other.   This does not mean however that the UN and the MCR have become too trusting or relaxed around each other.