Errant Asteroid Belt drone may have been hijacked
Ship carrying precious metal samples
MARS CAROUSEL, Feb. 53 - A drone survey ship carrying precious metal samples from the Asteroid Belt may have been hijacked remotely rather than reacting to faulty instructions or being misdirected by its onboard autopilot, Mission Control told the Chaos Courier on Saturday.
“Without going into how we know, we suspect that it’s being guided by instructions that aren’t from us nor is it making mistakes due to internal code that evolved badly over the mission,” Mission Control Chief Ceres Piazzi said.
The wayward drone made an early course correction on Feb. 45, putting it on a trajectory that would have it cross Mars’ orbit about 50 million miles behind the planet.
The other eight drones made a proper course adjustment on Wednesday (Feb. 50) and are headed on a trajectory toward Mars. The ships are due to arrive Sunday, March 2, following a scheduled deceleration burn eight sols earlier on Feb. 60.
All of the drones stopped communicating with Mission Control nearly five weeks ago.
It’s not yet clear just how hijackers would get into the system, Piazzi said. They may have taken advantage of the significant autonomy that’s built into the drones’ on-board controllers.
“It’s a long way away and we can’t foresee every contingency,” Piazzi said. “So, we let it make decisions according to its best judgment, and to reaffirm with us as soon as possible. The autopilot evolves with those learnings over time to improve performance.”
For instance, if the drone needs to dodge a rock, it’s free to maneuver but it’s supposed to check in at the same time.
“It’s possible that relative freedom of action provided an opening into the piloting system that someone has taken advantage of,” Ceres said.
Backdoor left open?
Mission Control hasn’t yet been able to locate where the outside instructions are being sent from or by whom, two sources close to the investigation told the Chaos Courier.
The sources said that the most likely scenarios was that a backdoor was planted before the mission began, or that the autopilot was breached in flight.
The squad of nine drones are returning from a 3-annos survey mission to the Asteroid Belt with several tones of samples from metallic and stony asteroids.
The samples from the Belt will help Martius Endeavours, which operates the orbitals and most of the industrial facilities on Mars, to decide which portions of the far-flung Belt to target for initial development and human habitation.
“We’ve made some educated guesses, but we’re looking for confirmation from the samples,” Carousel Manager Johannes Tycho said. “The Belt covers a massive distance and most of it is empty space, so we really need to focus.”
That information is far more valuable than the samples aboard the wayward drone, Tycho said.
The Belt lies about 100 million to 250 million km farther from the sun than Mars, or about 2.2 to 3.2 AU from the sun.
Orbital management has sent the Space Rescue Cutter Jove and the rebuilt fast packet Pilgrim, formerly the Caraval, to monitor the drones as they approach Mars for a scheduled orbital entry on March 2, or two weeks.
Neither Tycho nor Piazzi would comment when asked if any ships had been sent after the hijacked drone.
“We wouldn’t say either way,” Tyco said. “That’s also valuable information.”
Survey Mars to quadruple staff at Tharsis Station
Habs for 600 on top of the volcano
ARES PORT, Feb. 51 - Survey Mars is planning to quadruple staff at its Pavonis Mons Station and add a larger habitation near the summit, with an eye toward future shuttle traffic to the extinct volcano, Survey Mars Chief Ian Kuyper told the Chaos Courier on Thursday.
“It’s just a small research station inside the caldera at this point and we’re looking forward to making it more of a permanent habitation, like Oudemans Crater, but bigger,” Kuyper said.
Oudemans, about 300 km south of Ares Port, currently has just under 220 residents, who mostly work for the Survey Mars station or on the surrounding farms, as well as a small number of homesteaders.
The Pavonis plans call for adding 450 staff to the current 150, and building larger habitational and survey facilities near the summit adjacent to a small ridge formed by the topmost lava flow.
“It’s facing east and will have a tremendous view, but the point is to take advantage of the height,” Kuyper said.
The Pavonis summit is 14 km above datum, or the established zero elevation level for Mars called the areoid, similar to sea level on Earth.
Most of the current staff live in the caldera, whose walls range from about 2 km to 4 km high.
Pavonis Mons is the middle of the three Tharsis Montes shield volcanoes, with Arsia Mons to the southwest and Ascraeus Mons to the northeast. Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system lies roughly 1,600km northwest of Pavonis.
Like Oudemans, Survey Mars wants to make the Pavonis station as self sufficient as possible, said Chief Areographer Stella Regina, who has been named project manager.
“They have some on-site gardens now, but we’ve been mostly supplying it with food and other necessities,” Regina said. “We’ll add enough garden space to support the staff and visitors, though they’ll still need extras”
Tithonia supply contract talks
The plans calls for building 12 hectares of greenhouses.
“We’ll build the habitational space up against and into the ridge, with access to the summit itself to make travel to the caldera easier,” Regina said.
That will require at least four more over-powered hopper tractors for travel in and out of the caldera.
The habitational units will be fabricated in space from rebuilt cargo pods, using designs supplied by Earth fleet stowaway Orla Calaveras, who arrived with the supply train in November 101.
Calaveras and her husband Luis Roving traveled in the cargo hold of the Pallene living in a dual cargo pod that they modified.
“The hab design maximizes storage and living space, and manages to feel roomy,” Regina said. “Plus, it’s easier and cheaper to re-hab them in orbit and drop them down.”
The habitational pods will be placed initially on self-leveling terraces adjacent to and overlooking the greenhouse terraces.
“The plan is that everyone will have a view across Mars to the sunrise while living among gardens,” Regina said. “This way they won’t feel like they’re in a spaceship cabin.”
Overtime, the space under the habitational terraces will be closed in for utility, storage and other purposes.
The greenhouses will be constructed using balloon habs with printed sandglass covers as has been done for most of the farm terraces at Tithonia and elsewhere on Mars.
Survey Mars is negotiating a supply contract with Tithonia for food and other supplies during construction and after, Regina said.
Pavonis Mons had once been envisaged as a promising site for a space elevator, but the development of fusion-powered shuttles and the relative abundance of fuel on Mars made that project uneconomical.
“Eventually, we expect to have an orbital and air shuttle ports at the summit, but it’s likely to only get occasional use for the near future,” Regina said. “It’s 1,200 km from Ares Port, which gets most of the orbital traffic, being close to Mars’ largest city and most of its industry.”
Tithonia scraps plans for its own air shuttle port
Keeps road project on the table
ITHONIA, Feb. 51 - The Tithonia City Council voted 4-3 to shelve a proposal to build an air shuttle port for the City’s exclusive use, citing obstacles put in place by Mars’ corporate overseer and the potential for valuable new contracts with the company, Martius Endeavours.
“We need to recognize that a proposed air shuttle port at the City simply isn’t going to fly in the current environment,” Council President Luca Matteo said at Thursday’s meeting. “As much as we would like it and as nice as it would b, it’s not going to happen any time soon.”
Martius Endeavours has warned the City that any air shuttle port would have to be located beyond its 100 km exclusion zone around Ares Port, which severely limits the sites that could be used.
Martius also told the City that if it wanted to build its own shuttle port at Ares Port, it would have to pay for it.
Councillor Beata Bakken voted to press ahead with the shuttle port project. “We’re better off having our own, even if we have to build a new transport tube 75 or 100 km to it,” Bakken said. “Otherwise, we’ll always be at the mercy of the corporation while the rest of the Valley is free to grow.”
The vote to set aside the project came a week after the Noctis Labyrinthus Council gave a cold shoulder to an informal City offer to jointly build a shuttle port about 40 km east of the Noctis Grange Hall and build a road directly to the City from that site.
Noctis councillors said the proposal ran counter to the Labyinth’s best interests as it would divert business from the Grange Hall completed last year, and complicate commercial relations with Martius-run Ares Port which accounts for a great deal of trade
“They looked at where their business comes from and where it goes, and decoded it didn’t make sense” Tithonia Mayor Claude Paddingbury said. “Trade from Ares Port east to Ius and Coprates runs through the Grange Hall. They want to grow that business, not dilute it.”
Paddingbury had broached the idea of a joint shuttle port with Labyrinth officials under the direction of the Tithonia Council as Noctis has not yet begun building its own but plans to start shortly.
“Once they get started, it would to be too late for us,” Paddingbury said.
Still waiting for a shuttle stop
Noctis expects its port to be added to the current weekly Air Mars shuttle, which doesn’t come any close to the Tithonia than Ius, which is 560 km east by air, and to be ready for expanded service when Air Mars finishes its new purpose-built shuttles. .
Air Mars now relies on an older model Class 4 orbital shuttle for its weekly route from Orson Welles to Corprates, Candor, Melas and Ius, but plans lighter weight air shuttles designed for intercity service.
It makes more sense for Tithonia to continue building trade through Ares Port, which is about 50 km from the City and connected by an underground tram line, Councillor TIberia Hernandez said. .
“We’re just talking about going through a lot of trouble to do something that doesn’t make sense, Hernandez said. “It literally takes minutes to get to Ares Port now. Let’s build on what we have.”
Survey Mars planned expansion at Pavonis (see above) opens an opportunity for the City to negotiate a better deal for itself when it comes to air shuttle service, Paddingbury argued.
Survey Mars, which remains under the purview of Martius Endeavours., is negotiating a supply contract with the city for Pavonis which would be serviced via air shuttle from Ares Port.
“They’re going to need supplies and it will be easier to ship them via air rather than hopping up to orbit and dropping down to Pavonnis,” Paddingbury said
Given the scope of the original plans, Martius is likely planning on building a much larger permanent station at Pavonis, Councillor Joshua Asta said.
“They’ll be building in steps and they’ll need the shuttle to support it,” Asta said. “They need materials, food and other supplies and that means us.”
Coprates to build “outdoor” garden
A small step to a greener Red Planet
COPRATES, Feb. 49 - The Coprates Council approved an “outdoor” farm terrace to simulate the temperature swings of the surrounding landscape as part of an effort to create hardier plants with an eye to eventually greening the Red Planet.
“We’ve been a leader in agricultural innovation on Mars,” Coprates Grange Chief Muriel Poona told the Council at its Wednesday meeting. “This will keep us moving forward in developing the plants and crops that are the best fit indoors, and one day, outdoors.”
The specialized 4-hectare terrace would allow plant scientists to test more precisely test how a variety of plants react to temperature swings and differences in soil, Poona said.
“We’re very good at growing the tastiest fruits and vegetables and in developing the soils and mediums to support them,” Poona said. “What we need to do is push the envelope more than a little so that we can grow them more efficiently.
The ambient terrace is being built as part of Coprates overall “Ring City” project which aims to build a 78-km city around the perimeter of its home Sibiti Crater on the chasma floor.
The city has completed the first 5 km, which includes villages spaced between farm terraces, Councillor and City Construction Manager Raj Perekh said.
Strictly speaking the terrace is far from an outdoor garden, Ambient Garden Project Manager Mary Yarrow told the meeting
“We’re using conditioned soil, for one thing, and we provide moisture and air, carefully, but the temperature swings can be as wide as we want them,” Yarrow said. “We want to test all the parameters. How the plants react to wider temperature swings, thinner atmosphere, less water and poorer soil.”
Yarrow noted that there have been many experiments with outdoor cultivation, but to date no plants had successfully reproduced in the wild.
“They freeze, they’re poisoned by the perchlorates in the regolith (Martian soil), they can’t withstand the radiation,” Yarrow said. “Everything on Mars isn’t just trying to kill us, it’s killing our plants so far.”
Previous experiments have used extreme cold tolerant lichens, but even those have not survived.
“It seems it would be more useful for us here in Coprates to focus on plants that can produce more oxygen for our greenhouses and our habs, rather than outdoors where it may just be lost to space over time,” Councillor Albertus Rincon told the meeting.
Those are also goals for the project, Yarrow said, adding that exploring the boundaries can help in developing plants that do just that.
If we’re better in tougher conditions,” Yarrow said. “We’ll be better in more controlled environments, like our greenhouses.”
Rockets escape Orbits in Marsball
TITHONIA, Feb. 51 - The Ares Port Orbits kept the Hab 1 Rockets reined in until the last period of their rubber match in the sudden death round of the Marsball playoffs, but let their final hopes slip through their grasp at the end.
The second place Rockets trailed the second-to-last place Orbits through the middle quarters but started to get loose in the fourth quarter before blasting off at the end.
The Ares Port side could only watch as the Rockets scored four 2-point comets in a row to put their opponents behind by 7 points at the final buzzer for a final score of 73-66 in front of a crowd of 562 at the Terrace One Arena in Hab 3.
“We really found our stride in the last 10 minutes. We were getting good looks and taking advantage of them,” Rocket forward Ronaldo Sepulveda said. “It was pretty frustrating till then because their defense was really solid.
While Thursday’s match ended closer, it mirrored the Orbit’s 71-53 loss to the Rockets in their Feb. 37 meeting.
“They’re a very strong side,” Orbits Captain Jamie Xavier said. “But we kept them contained and thought we could close it right up to the end.”
The next sudden death match pits the two middle teams against each other, the 2-2 Hab 3 Quasars and the 1-3 Hab 2 Dust Devils.
The winner faces the Rockets on Feb 65, which sets up the final against the unbeaten WestHill Pulsars the following week.
- Deroy Duval, Sports Correspondent.
Arrivals and Departures
Hotel Itinérant, Melas
The Hotel Itinérant overland passenger train arrives in Melas Sunday Feb. 61, after leaving Ius on Tuesday, Feb. 49. Departs Melas for two-week trip to Corprates Feb. 64. Message ‘Itinerant’ for bookings and information.
Rego Ranger, Ares Port
The Rego Ranger overland cargo train arrives in Ares Port Thursday Feb. 58, and departs Monday Feb. 62 on a 50-sol trip to Coprates with openings for three cargo handlers and as many as four passengers. Message Rego Ranger
Air Mars
Friday - Orson Welles, Coprates, Melas, Ius.
Monday - Ius, Candor, Coprates.
Tuesday Coprates, Wells, Orbit. No passengers to orbit. Message Air Mars.
Calendar
Tithonia Council discusses Pavonis supply deal
The Tithonia Council discusses negotiations for a supply deal with Survey Mars for the Pavonis Mons station expansion project. Thursday 19:00, Council Hall, Hab1 Terrace 8
“Miracle Moon”
Scifi adventure with a bit of desperate romance. Things go very wrong in a lunar crater. Can the crew save themselves and their station? Stage 3 Hab 1 Terrace 8, Feb. 51-57, 18:00, 20:00, 22:00
Harris and Fitz, Rosettas at the Pub Seventeen
Harris and Fitz take the terrace at Pub Seventeen followed by the Rosettas Marsbeat band at the Hab 3 brew pub near the Terrace One Arena. Friday, Saturday from 19:00
Cubby Samba
City Residence hosts the weekly Cubby part with the City Samba. Friday, Cubby Terrace at 20:00 Friday. Hab 1 Terrace 3. All resident are welcome.
Las Panteras de Marte
Singer Monique Solis, guitarist Hernando Senatobia and accordionist Ignacio Beck, play Mars style Norteño music. You’ll dance. Geryon Agora. Saturday 16:00
City Social
Mix and mingle with new arrivals and old hands. Hab 2. Terrace 4, by Tithonia Gardens. Friday 17:00
City Farmer’s Market
Saturday. Stalls available by appointment. Fabrica (Industrial) Tube Terminal Saturday 0900-1500
Marsball Week 15, Sudden Death Round Five
Third-place Hab 3 Quasars (2-2) meet the fourth-place Hab. 2 Dust Devils (1-3) in Marsball sudden-death play. The winners play the No. 2 Hab. 2 Rockets the following week. Thursday 20:00 Hab 3 Terrace One Arena
Coprates Caravansary, March 22
Coprates Caravansary Family overland cargo train meet up March 22-30, managed by Tractor Swap organizer and Corpates Councillor Marcia Charettier. Message Tractor Swap
- Merry Grace, lifestyle correspondent
Classified Ads
SHIP REFITTING, BREAKING All craft, parts and refurb. PONTUS 100 751
BORING HEADS Diamond durable. Get the job done. CANDOR 286 49762
JUMP START. Tractor Repair. Mobile unit available. If we can reach it, we can fix it. NOCTIS 260-22098
DUST BUNNIES. Turn dust into dirt. Best for plants. MELAS 285-78329
SURFSUIT Refurbishing. Fabric and boot repair, seal replacement, visor refurbishing, comms upgrades. COPRATES 297-14210
CARGO HANDS, For overland cargo train. Ex-contract only ARES PORT 268 31211
SHUTTLE AGENTS, MECHANICS for Air Mars InterChasma terminals. PONTUS 100 763
CARGO HANDLERS. Space experience required. Contract exemptions considered. PONTUS 100 419
WELDERS. Experienced welders seeking space yard qualification. Ex-contract only. PONTUS 100 639
CONSTRUCTION All specialties. Some outside. Ex-contract only. GERYON 278 68034
APPRENTICES Recycling systems. 8 annos and up. IUS 278 98559
APPRENTICES Metal smith, forging, casting, 8 annos (14 years) and up. URBS 269-37728
APPRENTICES Fabrics production, design. 8 annos and up. URBS 269-98523
APPRENTICES Ceramics. 8 annos and up. URBS 269-98523
APPRENTICES Environmental systems. URBS 269 81447
SPACE CAMP. Get ready for orbital work. All ages. ARES PORT 268 00910
BALLROOM DANCING Let's Rumba! URBS 269 49144
YOGA. Get the kinks out. IUS 278-43256
DANCING. All styles for adults. Hab 3 Rec Center. URBS 269 10311
STRENGTH Training for trainers. COPRATES 295 04716
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The header photo is the iconic mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars from 2,500 km above the surface taken by the Viking Orbiter. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
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Photomosaic: Viking Orbiter: NASA/JPL-Caltech