 | ||
| Mars | ||
|---|---|---|
| System | Sol | |
| Type | Planet | |
| Astronomical Classification Index | CODST-sE | |
| Habitable | No | |
| Affiliation | Colonial Administration of Mars | |
| Location | Leo | |
| Natural Satellites | 2 | |
| Artificial Satellites | Numerous space stations and satellites | |
| Discovery Date | 1609 | |
| Population | 84 million (2114) | |
| Equatorial Radius | 3,389.5 km | |
| Gravity | 0.379 g | |
| Atmosphere | Co2, Ar, N2 | |
| Rotational Period | 24h, 37m, 22.66s | |
| Axial Tilt | 25° 11'40.94' | |
| Mass | 0.10747 M🜨 | |
| Tidally Locked | No | |
| Orbital Period | 1.881 years | |
| Orbital Speed | 24.13 km/s | |
| Orbital Radius | 1.5 AU | |
| Orbital Eccentricity | 0.093 | |
| Aphelion | 1.6660 AU | |
| Perihelion | 1.3814 AU | |
| Inclination | 1° 51'02.15' | |
Mars' primary industry is mining, though this industry is not incredibly profitable and was one of the causing factors for the Martian Revolution - as a result, the Colonial Administration of Mars is looking to make a shift to a manufacturing and production focused economy, hoping to provide more and better jobs for the large Martian population. Besides being the hallmark of mankind's colonization efforts, it is also infamous for its political history: tensions of economic exploitation and biased governance led to the secession of the planet from United Nations rule and the outbreak of the Martian Revolution.
Planetary Information
Mars is a desert planet; it has an incredibly thin atmosphere and very little tectonic activity. The dusty surface of Mars can vary in colour depending on the region, with the Rutherford district known for the Golden Field, a region of Mars with a predominant concentration of gold-to-tan coloured dust visible from space. Extensive research has been done regarding the planet's history and have determined that it was once teeming with life, complete with bodies of water. However, all this life disappeared at a time before humanity came to being, leaving only ghostly remnants of rivers and seas, often the site of tourism and ongoing research. The elevations on Mars vary in extremes - the northern pole of Mars is at a predominantly lower elevation than the rest of the planet, yet the highest point (Olympus Mons) is nearer to the north pole, and the lowest point (Hellas Basin) is nearer to the south.
Presently, Mars is home to several extinct volcanoes towering over the rest of the planet, the largest of which, Olympus Mons, rises more than 26 kilometres above its surrounding area. Several other prominent geological formations exist, such as the Mariner Valley (Valles Marineris) and impact craters, many of which have had cities or outposts established on them or their outskirts by human settlers. Several craters made by asteroids have had rare metals deposited into their soil by the meteorites that made them, birthing numerous mining operations in their borders.
Every three Martian years (five Earth years), Mars experiences torrential dust storms that engulf the entire planet for more than one month. These storms can gather winds of up to 170 km/h and have caused issues for settlers since the first rovers on Mars - much of Martian infrastructure takes these tri-yearly dust storms into account, as they can very often damage automated equipment operating on the Martian surface, or completely cover solar farms. While Martian meteorologists work to predict the global dust storms, many solar farms possess shutters to protect their panels from the storms and all machinery not rated for the storms are withdrawn during the storm period.
Infrastructure
One of Mars' most striking features of all are their dome cities: massive, geodesic domes of transparent ceramics built to accommodate millions under a climate-controlled atmospheric bubble. Their design, made financially feasible due to the planet's vast resources, has allowed the construction of open-air cities with architectural styles similar to that of Earth's. However, due to their constrained footprint, Martian cities are far more vertical than their Earthen counterparts, with dozens of pedestrian levels stacked on top of each other, connected by train-like elevators. Many Martian citizens go their entire day without ever touching ground-level in these cities, with most of everything they need connected by skyways and bridges.
While the typical Martian city is composed of between 1 and 2 domes, Aquila, Rutherford City and Olympia are all made of between 4 to 7 interconnected domes of varying densities, making "constellations" of unique shapes. The largest city on Mars, New Zion, has a total of eleven domes, though with a very low density. Their shapes have spawned the term "constellation" as a colloquialism for a metropolitan area, a term Martians will sometimes subconsciously use when off-world. The largest Martian dome cities stretch tens of kilometres in diameter and house upwards of 1 million people, home to bustling skyscrapers and high-density buildings. However, lesser-developed Martian cities, built in less-trafficked areas of the planet, also exist, and typically house swathes of hydroponic farm towers (or even aquaponics farms) in a similar manner to the agrarian societies of developing Earth countries.
These rural domes possess far less amenities than urban domes but attract many who wish for a quieter lifestyle than that of cities but don't wish to move off-world. The Martian government has, so far, dedicated eleven dome cities planetwide to be Permanent Agrarian Zones (PAZs), with hard limits to their development restricting their growth and preserving their quiet way of life. Those living in PAZs are typically middle-class retirees or societal runaways, seeking refuge from the hyper-dense downtowns of cities such as Olympia and Aquila. Most Martians will find themselves occupying tight but not claustrophobic apartments in dome cities, either in privately-owned flats or condos, or government-owned social housing, dependent on district. Wealthier individuals may find themselves occupying larger units, though even these are lacking in floor space compared to an equivalently priced unit in an Earth city. Single family housing in urban dome cities is profoundly rare, and in some cities completely banned; however, in rural biodomes they can often be found regularly, albeit for steep prices. Mansions are reserved for the elite and, even then, are still prohibited in most cities from being constructed, with the city of Goodwood being the only notable exception.
Transportation
Owing to the extremely thin atmosphere, flight on Mars is, despite being possible, highly impractical for human-sized aircraft. This leaves two primary methods of long-distance transportation: suborbital flight and rail. The Martian government has constructed a planetwide rail network spanning more than 50,000 kilometres of prefabricated maglev track crafted from mined metals and built over 8 years by millions of construction drones and thousands of workers. The network uses high-speed maglev locomotives that, unimpeded by air, can travel upwards of 700 kilometres per hour and can ferry a passenger from one side of the planet to the other in a very short amount of time. Combined with Mars' small size relative to Earth's and the lack of oceans, it is much easier to circumnavigate Mars than it is to do with Earth.
Roads are typically reserved for service or emergency vehicles; most citizens living in domed cities will either walk, bike, take public transit, or use robotaxis to get from point A to point B. Businesses and wealthy individuals can file for private car ownership, though these are usually reserved for limousines, and commuting in a private car in the narrow, labyrinthine Martian streets is impractical; as a result, even the wealthiest individuals living in Martian cities do not own cars.
Most developed dome cities will have at least three forms of public transportation: robotaxis, a bus network, and a metro rail system. Rural or underdeveloped cities will typically have only the first two, with metro investments coming later in a city's life, when the former two are filled to capacity. Orbital spaceports are also common, and ports of all sizes can be found in every major city. Shuttles take off regularly ferrying passengers either across the planet or to waiting starliner ferries in orbit, carrying passengers between the planets.
Outposts
Located outside of dome cities, outposts are isolated building complexes that are often either partially or totally underground. The early remnants of Martian colonization, many of these outposts hold less affluent people from all walks of life, living in conditions similar to that of a bunker. While far from terrible -- especially compared to the certain death that waits beyond their walls -- life in the outposts are dull and monotonous, with many being plagued by a chronic lack of leisure or things to do besides working. With many outposts being tremendously far from train lines, commuting to cities by rover is often the only way to get to civilization. An estimated three million people live in outposts across Mars.
Some outposts are privately owned corporate laboratories, their extreme remoteness being an ideal location for high-risk scientific experiments. Such facilities go out of their way to be as remote as possible, with many being located entirely underground save for several sheds with access lifts or staircases.
Economy
As of 2117, Mars' main sectors are manufacturing, tourism, transportation, mining, electronics and information technology. Following the Martian Revolution and the onset occupation by the Peacekeeper Corps, the United Nations was tasked with the goal of determining what would become of the Martian economy, the economics of Mars and Earth being the root cause of the revolution as a whole, and with the consultation of various economists, it was eventually agreed that a continuation of the plan for the Martian economy devised by Václav Schwarzenberg, a Czech economist and former governor of Mars, was in the best interests of the UN and the future of Mars.
Rather than attempting to further increase Mars' dependence on Earth for resources as a measure to ensure they do not attempt to revolt again - or at least fail if they do - an approach proposed by some military figures involved in the Martian occupation, the United Nations wanted to ensure that Earth and Mars could cooperate to mutual benefit as a means to avoid further conflict, and it was made clear by the Martian Revolution that this required a substantial degree of economic independence from Earth. With this in mind, the New Plan, which persists to the current date, involves a heavy focus on manufacturing and a domestic mining market, alongside the introduction of new sectors. Mars' only abundant resource in terms of mining is iron, which is just as abundant on Earth, making it a wholly unprofitable resource to export even in high quantities - Schwarzenberger, during his term, imposed tariffs on mining exports in order to, encourage the growth of the manufacturing industry by making exports unprofitable. This practice persists with the New Plan, and since the introduction of the plan to Mars in 2095, without a major recession to crash the Martian economy and force the recycling of the Martian trade flotilla, has since expanded and evolved to much greater extents than Scwarzenberger was able to witness during his time as Governor.
Mars not only possesses a new, larger trade flotilla to enable for large-scale trade between Mars and Earth, alongside the other colonies, but also fields a similarly large asteroid mining fleet, an industry introduced since the revolution to spur greater Martian economic self-sufficiency, and has plans to develop a Martian space elevator. Mars previously had no real means to mining the asteroid belt; belt mining did exist but was rather rudimentary and mostly headed by Luna and Jupiter. By introducing belt mining to the Martian economy, Mars could gain access to a multitude of resources they were previously reliant on Earth for, and more importantly, were able to acquire water on their own by mining frozen ice - namely on Ceres, but also as far out as in Saturn's rings. Mars as of today relies on Earth for very little and the relationship between Earth and Mars is primarily one of trade, and as a result, talks have been underway between the United Nations and the Colonial Administration of Mars regarding the creation of a fully independent Martian state - with a more than sufficient self-sustainable economy, large and growing population and a culture ingrained with the idea of independence from Earth, with the possibility of a peaceful independence and future cooperation between Earth and Mars, Martian independence has been widely regarded as not only a good idea, but an inevitability.
Demographics
Culture
With Martian settlers tracing their roots to every single corner of Earth, Martian culture is a melting pot of different cultural traits that have been curated by its colonists as desirable. Thus, one can expect to find foods, crafts, traditions, and festivals from all walks of life within walking distances of each other in most major cities. Besides the Earth-based culture, Mars has also developed some unique qualities of its own. Owing to its origin as a colony on a barren wasteland - with certain traits exacerbated by the Revolution - Martians value resourcefulness, frugality, and teamwork. The positive Martian stereotype paints its citizens as being crafty and cooperative, while the negatives paint them as rebellious and cunning. A fluctuating population of migrants and constant transit between Earth and Mars has kept Martian culture an aspect of Earth culture and preventing more extreme cultural developments the likes of Alveoniere Creole developing on colony worlds - though, as opposed to a full-blown Martian Creole, there exists a Martian accent and dialect alongside various regional dialects.
Martian cuisine is a blend of traditional Terran cultural cuisine with unique aspects of Martian life. Owing to the thinner atmospheres most dome cities are pressurized to, spices and flavouring are all the more important in food, with some more snobby Terran often calling Martian cuisine "over seasoned". Wasting food is considered taboo in Martian culture, and people who can't finish their plate at restaurants often donate their leftovers to the staff, a practice not commonplace in any Earth culture; some Martian tourists visiting Earth are often looked at with (typically positive) surprise when offering their leftovers to their waiter. This practice is also somewhat common in the Jovian colonies, though is far less notable.
Districts
Mars is split into eleven districts, semi-independent governing bodies which have their own municipal governments and cities. Each district has a local administration, whose name varies per region, and appoints a Governor as their head. The entire Martian surface is a unitary state governed, ultimately, by the Colonial Administration of Mars, and it is the CAM that is often referred to as "the government", rather than individual district administrations. Owing to their statuses as past and present capitals, respectively, Olympia and Schiaparelli are unique in that they are both considered federal districts; they are owned directly by the planetary government and possess no district-level representation of their own, only city-level; as a result, they do not possess governors.
Districts are distinguished by their specializations, with most districts opting for mining, manufacturing, or service as their primary specialty; other more affluent districts have diversified into more discretionary industries like tourism or gambling.
Schiaparelli
Schiaparelli (pronounced "shkaparelli") is the current and first federal district of Mars under direct governance of the Colonial Administration, being home to the first landing site of Aquila 2, Schiaparelli crater, now home to Mars' planetary capital city Aquila. It is the oldest district on Mars and hosts equal parts museums, relics, and government offices. Schiaparell is the second smallest district by total area and hosts the cities of Schofield, Creutbrue, Clinton, Bison and Aquila, it's capital city. Residents of Schiaparelli are known by the demonym Schiapian. Besides the Aquila 2 landing site, Schiaparelli also hosts the Museum of Martian Exploration, which hosts the Aquila 2 landing craft, the whole, repaired Perseverance rover (with the Curiosity rover being stored at the United Aerospace Museum on Earth) along the Rosalind Franklin, Opportunity, Zhurong and Marseille rovers. It also hosts parts of the Sojourner and the Mars-3 rovers.
Aquila also hosts Colonial Embassies (CEs) to Earth, Venus and Jupiter alongside the seat of Martian colonial parliament. After the shift of governance from Olympia to Aquila after the Martian Revolution, and the mass-migration of Olympians to the new capital, Aquila underwent mass-expansion to accommodate for the much larger population. While not the largest city on Mars, it is the most populous city, and has the highest dome density, making it the brightest city on Mars when viewed from space.
Hellas
Hellas is named for its location within the Hellas Basin, the lowest point on Mars. Hellas boasts a significant fine arts culture. New Medina, the district's capital, has built itself up as an artist's haven, hosting many art museums, theatres, shows, and festivals for many to enjoy. Aside from the Mariner Valley, the Hellas Basin and the many recreational attractions within Hellas make the district and its titular basin a popular spot for Martian vacation. Residents of Hellas are known by the demonym Hellenian, which also reflects in some of the district's tourism advertising and architecture, often based on Greek aesthetics and iconography. Hellas hosts the cities of Jecgend, Oxnard, Pinkerton, Sentrada - the lowest city on Mars, nestled in the heart of the Hellas Basin, Cousteau, Boulder, Welles, Bradley, Zhulijong, Faraday, Gatan, Ylilen, and it's capital, New Medina.
Hellas additionally has a prominent mining industry due to deposits of rare metals under the basin. Chlorine, phosphorus, and sulfur, minerals more common on Mars than Earth, while present in patches across Mars, are especially concentrated within the Hellas Basin. The district makes a wealth of income from the sale of these rarer minerals, making Hellas also one of the only districts to possess profitable sale mining across the planet.
Elysium
Elysium, north of Hellas and Schiaparelli, and despite being named after Elysium Mons, the volcano is not in the district's jurisdiction. Instead, Elysium focuses on tourism and gambling, promoting resort and tourism companies to make stead in the district's boundaries. Several theme parks, casinos, and hotels are located across Elysium, many of which are located in Valhalla. While scenic tourism is limited, excursions are available for visitors to drive rovers in the vast plains of the north, as well as sightseeing trips for several natural landmarks in the district's boundaries. Even tourist attractions in surrounding districts, like the Golden Field in Rutherford, is most often accessed by tourist companies operating out of Valhalla. Being that it hosts the most tourism on Mars, Elysium also hosts the planet's largest spaceport in the city of Valhalla.
Residents of Elysium are known by the demonym Elysian, and the district hosts the cities of Bohr, Domingo, Hulwah, Fallujah, Maradi, Yadvale, San Pablo, Elridge and Valhalla, it's capital and largest city.
Rutherford
A business district, Rutherford is perhaps one of the wealthiest and best-invested districts on the planet, owing to its high concentration of corporations that call the district their home - Rutherford has managed to accumulate it's wealth by heavy cooperation with Earth, Lunar and Jovian corporations as opposed to the underdeveloped Martian economy. Low business tax rates and plenty of subsidies for small and large businesses alike continue to attract companies to the place. The AXIOM Corporation in particular has taken a liking to the district and had a great deal of influence in establishing it, leading to the AXIOM-built city of Goodwood and its own institution, Goodwood University.
Residents of Rutherford are known by various demonyms, varying between either Ruthian or Rutherforders. Rutherford hosts the cities of Goodwood, Craisbridge, Wright, Somerset, O'Hare, Borromeo, and it's titular capital of Rutherford City. Rutherford is home to the Golden Field, a region of lighter surface dust and also the flattest area on Mars, making it somewhat unpopular for anything other than sightseeing, which is still more practical from space.
Tharsis
The largest district on Mars by land area and population, Tharsis built a fortune on mining and manufacturing, its large swathes of land paving the way for companies to fork millions of credits to the district government to set up operations. Economic stagnation following the Revolution, however, has quickly plummeted the district's economy into one nearing impoverished status. New Zion, the largest city in Tharsis and on Mars, stands as the richest city in the district, disproportionately wealthy compared to its neighbouring towns. Despite its hardships, Tharsis remains one of the most highly populated districts on the planet overall, boasting over 25% of the planet's population living within its borders. Tharsian real estate is cheap, plentiful, and comes with all the developments of the 'wealthier' cities on Mars, making its smaller towns extremely desirable for younger populations. Those who can't get white collar jobs, however, are often left living paycheck-to-paycheck.
Residents of Tharsis are known by the demoynm Tharsian. The district has the most cities of any district, hosting the twenty-one cities of Odonshire, Marshal, Pleisance, Shaodong, Marshal, Mathieu, Chebarkul, Bearpoole, Lin, Ortigas, New Phuket, Varston, Klemshire, Abanbu, Cuistavina, Kpandi, New Incheon, Wraka, Pruimmond, Cruusal and it's capital of New Zion, the largest city on Mars with eleven total domes. In between the numerous domes of New Zion are a number of solar farms that reflect huge amounts of sunlight, making the city distinguishable from its surrounding environment when viewed from space during the day.
Olympus
Olympus is federal district hosting the disgraced former capital of Mars, Olympia, that once held over ten million people at its prime in the 2070s and the first city to span multiple domes. However, it was the first city to fall into Commonwealth hands during the Martian Revolution and remained a bastion for Commonwealth activity throughout the war. During the final day of the Martian Revolution, a large-scale invasion of Olympia was staged over multiple days which resulted in the infamous Bombing of Olympia, which levelled multiple of the domes which comprised the city. Today, Olympia has made monumental progress in its recovery efforts, rebuilding parks, erecting memorials, and piecing its reputation together bit by bit. Half the city is coated in Revolution monuments while building up its economy. The city government's tax haven policies and low rent for its previously abandoned skyscrapers are attracting businesses to the city, away from the saturated Rutherford. Residents of Olympus are known as Olympians, with the city of Olympia being the only city in the district.
Mariner
The Mariner district is built upon the Mariner Valley, a colossal canyon formation easily visible from space, resembling a massive scar in the planet's surface. The cities of New Marseille, Doropo, Sitiyang and Vulko use individual, pressurized buildings like those found on Luna for much of its canyon-based architecture, rather than dome cities, though the remainder of the cities outside of the valley. Many buildings built inside the Mariner canyons are constructed into sheer cliff faces, suspended above thin air, bridges connecting buildings from one side of the canyon to the other. This highly-unique style of construction is part gimmick, part practical, as resource deposits are located in the cliff walls to be mined. Regardless, it definitely attracts tourists, and Mariner ranks along with Elysium on the most visited districts on the planet. After the Martian Revolution, many displaced Olympians and Tharsians who didn't follow the government to Schiaparelli, migrated to Mariner, leading to heightened urban development, a necessity with the population spike in need of both homes and jobs.
Following the reparation period, Mariner also began to improve it's mining industry and job infrastructure, expanding the pre-existing mining claims on the canyon walls alongside establishing some new, fledgling claims. Though it has a substantial mining industry, it is mostly for the sake of the district's own development, not being nearly as developed as the Tharsian or Hellenian mining industries, and nowhere near as profitable. Residents of Mariner are also known as Mariner, or Mariners. The district hosts the cities of Siyitang, Vulko, Duropo, Ryongrim, Ecaadwele, Yamakara, Savant, Rothen and it's capital and largest city, New Marseille.
Argyre
Argyre is a military manufacturing hub of the planet and has its culture thoroughly associated with that of the military. The district itself was created ten years after the founding of the Sol Defence Corps in the form of a surface naval anchorage, the planet's low gravity allowing ships to easily land on the surface without much effort. Following decades of development, during which the Peacekeeper Corps gradually moved into the base and displaced waning SDC personnel, the area around the anchorage grew a permanent population. The first dome cities were constructed in the 2070s, and the infantile district would soon after become a battleground during the Revolution, as Argyre acted as a heavily-fortified UN stronghold. Today Argyre holds the manufacturing hubs of defence companies such as Royal Arms Manufacturing, as well as countless munitions factories. Its workforce consists primarily of engineers and manual labourers, with polytechnic universities and trade schools popping up in response. Argyre Polytechnic College is one of the largest engineering institutions on Mars and one of few with direct lines to the SDC.
Residents of Argyre are known as Argyrians. The district hosts the cities of Saint Gedeon, Kowash, Matsumoto, Shadeika and San Carlos, it's capital city.
Southern Highlands
The Southern Highlands is a mining-oriented district on Mars and one of the most scarcely populated. Owing to a lack of infrastructure in the region, the Highlands has seen little economic growth in recent years. Its cities are largely self-governing with a district authority virtually nonexistent, and its primary exports are rare earth metals found from the countless impact crater sites that dot the landscape.
Despite its large mineral wealth, the lack of a large-scale rail line running to the southerly portions of the district make mining operations unsustainable. The terrain is unforgiving and had been determined by countless survey teams to take monumental effort to build even elevated track on. By the 2110s, several mining companies have pooled together common resources to build a railway of their own linking into the Highlands' untapped deposits, a project which is expected to complete in less than 5 years. Residents of the Southern Highlands are known by the demonym Highlander. The district hosts the cities of Morgan, Niter, Icoby, Ordset, Einsevagen, and Antaba, it's largest and most populous city, hosting 65% of the Highlander population.
Boreum & Nostrum
The polar regions of Mars, Boreum and Nostrum are largely similar in their composition and specialties: they are the coldest, most barren regions of Mars, home to vast stretches of water ice. The districts produce the vast majority of fresh (non-recycled) water for the Martian population, mining it block by block. There is little else to do here; the Martian seasons result in a continuous melting and freezing of the ice, eroding the surface and masking any meteorite deposits that would otherwise be suitable for mining. Most towns are situated at the edge of ice caps, centred around extracting water from the poles and piping it through to the Martian people. The residents of these districts are known as Boreans and Nostrans respectively. Boreum hosts the cities of Barren, Adason, Florsheim, Khamesa, Othalle, Kelerema, and it's capital New Kananga, and Nostrum hosts the cities of New Plovdiv, Cosefeld, Edwinston, Kurylikva, Beringen and the capital Athechester.