Dust settles in Valles Marineris
But not for disputed Shalbatana settlement
ORSON WELLES CRATER, Oct. 8 - The dust is beginning to clear on the eastern edge of the massive Xanthe Terra dust storm, but the dust-up drags on for a disputed Shalbatana Vallis settlement being developed by legendary Mars builder Jeremiah Volcan.
The dust storm topped out at more than 4 million sq. km, stretching from Melas at mid Valley north to Xanthe Terra and the Shalbatana Vallis and east to cover all of Coprates and most of Capri chasmata, Survey Mars geographer Stella Regina said Saturday.
“It will start clearing up in Coprates, and they can start clearing the dust off the Chandrasekar Dome,” Regina said.
But the picture isn’t getting any clearer for a disputed settlement in the Shalbatana Vallis, where Survey Mars took the unusual step of rejecting the claim for the community being built in underground caverns by Volcan that has become a flashpoint in disputes about development.
The Survey Mars crew that was sent out the second week of September to inspect the community has signaled that it will return this week after more than 40 days, most of it spent sheltering from the dust storm in a nearby cavern and inside the settlement, Regina said.
Mars DevCo Planetary Manager Elric Balvicar and Urbs Vallis Council President Claude Paddingbury have called for a halt to all independent development and homesteading outside Tithonium Chasma, which is home to Mars’ biggest city and the Ares Port industrial facilities and shuttle port for regional and orbital shuttles.
The demand for a development halt has been rejected by local councils from Noctis Labyrinthus to Ius, Candor, Melas and Coprates chasmata as well as Orson Welles Crater, outside the valley proper, representing a bit more than half the population in the Valles Marineris region.
In late August, Survey Mars rejected the settlement claim filed by Volcan, who led the building of the WestHill Terrace in Urbs Vallis, the first significant permanent habitations in the Valles Marineris,
Volcan’s group has so far built two intensively gardened habitats in caverns nearly a kilometer deep and adjacent to a pit crater, which he has targeted for development into a vertical city.
The rejection is a rare move by Survey Mars, which acts as a registrar for settlement claims filed by individual homesteaders and communities, and the basis for that denial remains unclear.
Claims may only be rejected if the involve claims on resources beyond which the homesteader or community can feasibly develop and use for current and future growth.
How green are my gardens
Volcan, who has named the community ‘Surtshellir’ after the cave of the fire giant on the island of Iceland in Earth’s northern seas., could not be reached for comment.
Both Regina and Survey Mars Chief Ian Kuyper declined to comment on the matter.
Orson Welles explorer Perpetua Heathering said, however, that she has seen the Survey Mars crew’s recommendation to approve Volcan’s claim.
“Jeremiah took them in, fed them, gave them great coffee and got their tractor cleaned up,” Heathering said. “And he gave them a more detailed tour than he gave me and Eustace (Saint-Lazare, a celebrated Mars explorer). “The crew has seen all they need to see, and they know that the claim is valid.”
Heathering said both she and Saint-Lazare has submitted documentation to support the claim and the project.
“It’s very innovative, and it makes great use of the existing site and landforms,” Heathering said. “The community is totally self supporting and so far all underground“ The Shalbatana community plans what Volcan calls a vertical city rising up the sides of a 900m deep, partially enclosed pit crater with side galleries around the central crater.
So far, the community has created at least two least two intensely gardened habitats in caverns nearly a kilometer underground near an ancient outflow channel that fed into the Shalbatana Vallis. They are also conducting agricultural research aimed at growing plants that can survive outside.
Paddingbury said development in the Valley itself and surrounding areas is becoming chaotic with no central control.
“They’re doing a lot of counterproductive and overlapping projects that essentially duplicate what we’re doing in the City, and we need to take a more organized approach,” Paddingbury wrote.
Both the City Council and Mars DevCo support a development pause, Paddingbury said, adding, “We have one chance to do this right, one chance to develop a new world in a way that’s best for Mars and for now and for our future Martians.”
Orbital cargo yard expansion to just make deadline
New shuttle ports, rescue ship well ahead of schedule
MARS CAROUSEL, Oct. 7 - Orbital management is aiming for a just-in-time completion of the cargo yard expansion project before of the Nov. 30 arrival of the supply train from Earth, but the four new docking ports are well ahead of schedule.
The docking ports should be completed by the first week of November, or about 100 sols ahead of schedule, while the cargo yard project will miss its Oct. 17 deadline by four weeks, Pontus Caelestis Manager Johannes Tycho said Friday.
The extra time was needed to incorporate design changes as the supply train is bringing in four orbital manufacturing modules, Tycho said.
The cargo project was originally scheduled to be completed 60 days ahead of the Nov. 30 arrival of the Earth supply train, with a 10 passenger liners and 15 cargo ships, including four orbital manufacturing models.
The new docking ports, which were scheduled for a January completion, are large enough to accommodate the larger Class 5 surface shuttles coming into service in January as well as larger shuttles used to ferry passengers and cargo from interplanetary ships docked in orbit.
“The new docking ports when very smoothly, but we’ve had some changes to the cargo yards,” Tycho said. “We’ll get it done, but without as much testing time as we might have liked.”
The new docking ports increases the total to 16 on the exterior of the wheel-shaped habitation, research and service station in areosynchronous orbit above the western Valles Marineris.
Space Rescue ship ready early
Temporary berthing space and support facilities for the manufacturing modules will be provided by the O’Ceileachair Exploration Group, majority owned by private space captains Attracta and Electra O’Ceileachair.
The group will also help prep the modules for self-deployment.
The O’Ceileachairs are building a ship repair and refurbishing facility adjacent to the orbital shipyard and rehabilitating four space liner sections into work and housing space for its workers.
In addition, the first ship for the new Space Rescue service, the former explorer scout Jove, will be ready by the first week of November, Tycho said.
The Jove, which was refitted by the O’Ceileachair yard, will be joined in mid-November by Space Rescue’s second ship, a newly built craft modified for service as a space tug by the ReLaunch ship refitting and breaking operation located at the other end of the shipyard.
“We set a very ambitious goal for both the Jove and the tug, but we have met those goals, giving us a far greater capacity to help ships in need,” Tycho said.
Both craft have been fitted with faster engines based on those used in the O’Ceileachair scouts Boudicca and Beansí (Banshee), which were instrumental in the rescue of the fast packet Caraval, whose engines failed on its Mars approach over the summer.
That ship was brought back by the Beansí using the ship pairing system designed by the spacefaring O’Ceileachair sisters.
“If we have to chase a ship down, we’ll be able to catch them,” Beansi Capt. Electra O’Ceileachair said. “And with the tug, we can add the attachment points for the pairing, and drag it back to Mars. We proved that with the Jove.”
Requests for Earth return rising
Yearning for blue skies
ARES PORT, Oct. 6 - As Earth and its oversized moon are looking ever closer for passengers and crew aboard the cargo train that left Mars nearly 250 sols ago for its sunward flight, requests for returns on next annos’ cargo fleet have risen above 100, according to Transit Mars.
The May cargo train, which arrives in Earth orbit Thursday, is carrying 97 returnees who have spent nearly 250 sols on their return to that blue planet sunward of Mars, but 21 of those were specialists on limited tours of duty, Transit Mars Chief Alexis Caminaro said.
That leaves 76 workers returning to Earth this week after fulfilling one extra annos on their 3-annos (5-1/2 year) transit contracts, or 7-1/3 years. Thirty-eight specialists had been scheduled to return, but 17 opted to remain on Mars, Caminaro said.
To date, 103 contract workers have applied for return with the June 102 cargo train after completing at least 4 annos (7-1/3 years) of contract work on Mars. Most of them will finish their fourth annos this December but a few have been Mars-side since April 97.
“We’re expecting that to rise somewhat as the departure draws closer, but we have a 200-sol deadline, meaning they have to apply by mid-March,” Caminaro said. “Some will change their minds and stay, and others will take their place. It’s mostly cargo going back, so passenger space depends on well, space.”
Some of the November arrivals are also scientists and specialist who will return in June, meaning they will spend about 60 sols less on Mars than they will in transit between the two planets. The rest of the temporary specialists arrived in Sept. 100, and will be a bit shy of 2 annos on Mars.
The return requests come as a City (Urbs Vallis) Labor Council survey shows that just over half of City workers are satisfied with their jobs, down 3 percentage points over the last annos. Nearly a third of workers say they would leave their jobs if they could.
While Transit Mars does not track the reasons for departure, one of the most frequent is nostalgia, Caminaro said.
“They don’t have to tell us, but we chat,” Caminaro said. “Some are just burned out. It can be tough here. Some are just longing for blue skies and blue water and being able to walk outside and just breathe.”
Blue sky, breezes and the sea are exactly why fusion scientist Shepparton Clark wants to go back.
“It’s been a dream living here for nearly a decade (five annos), but I’m going to spend a couple years sailing a wooden ship with wind-blown sails around Australia and across the Pacific Ocean,” Clark said. “Yeah, I want to stand on the deck in the open air in the middle of the ocean, but after that, and if I can, I might just come back to Mars or head further out.”
Mars lope makes short work of hike for Youth Rangers
Ready to conquer Olympus Mons
MELAS CHASMA, Sept. 45 - At a water exploration site some 70 km from the nearest habitation in one of the deepest spots in Melas Chasma beneath the towering north valley wall, a dozen surfsuit-clad figures appeared on the lonely landscape.
Despite their bulky emergency packs, the Mars Youth Rangers seemed to almost glide across the dusty, rocky surface, taking long loping steps with the unconscious ease of the Mars-born.
Except for the time spent in weighted exercise, the rangers had lived all their lives in the planet’s lighter gravity and were making the most of it.
A handful of hard-suited drilling crew members waved at them, and mimed applause with their gloved hands.
The rangers waved back excitedly. The 10-annos-old (18-year-old) squad members had passed the second part of their survival test, and that meant a promotion to full Ranger rank and a chance to become part of a Mars Survey explorer crew.
For Crew Chief Rodanthe Tallin, it had been a particularly challenging experience, because she had had to overcome not only the difficulties of the test but also her natural reticence to prove herself as a leader.
“It’s my voice,” Tallin said, sipping a coffee in the main room of the drilling crew’s habitat. “I have this high voice that makes me sound like I’m 6-annos-old, but the squad did great. We evacuated the damaged tractor in good order, set up camp, made it through the night, and made it here, away from everything.”
The six boys and six girls had spent the night in an emergency shelter 12 km away in a dune field on a night with temperatures near minus 80C.
The first part of their survival test had come the previous afternoon, when the rangers had evacuated their survey tractor for a staged emergency in a dune field.
“Rodanthe did great,” Pathfinder Gabe Aregua said, and the rest of the squad nodded in agreement. “We were all looking at each other when the alarm sounded, and she got us out and got us moving. In a real emergency, that would have made the difference.”
The test had come on the third day of the group’s scheduled week-long resource survey beneath the chasma’s northern rim, a job they would finish on their way home to Melas.
Shelter first, then the hike
They’d started the second day of their test in the dune field when the sun was just a small, slightly brighter spot above the dust-obscured horizon.
“Safety check, helmets, suits, air,” Tallin had called over the radio as the squad assembled outside the ballon hab that had sheltered them overnight in their impromptu camping site.
“Still good and three times good, Chief,” Safety Monitor Durstan Currawinya replied to soft chuckles from the other 10 rangers who were busy shutting down the camp.
The geodesic-shaped balloon hab began to sag as its air was sucked back into a gas recovery unit on a supply sled for later recycling.
The Melas Chasma floor would warm up more than 50 degrees by the time that reached the drill site but minus 24C was no one’s idea of a balmy afternoon.
Their route to safety was mapped out by Aregua in his job as pathfinder.
“The trickiest part was getting out of the dune field,” Aregua said later at the drill site. “We took that slow, but then we came across the supply route—that’s easy to see.”
The supply route to the water drilling site was marked both by the rocks that had been swept aside by overland supply trains, but also by the tracks of their mesh wheels that left a distinctive pattern in the dust and sand.
The rangers had not been totally alone. Their supervisor, former Survey Mars Explorer Nate Mangala, had stayed behind and out of sight in the tractor with a reporter who had tagged along to witness their test.
The tractor shadowed them throughout the day, but remained out of sight during their trek to the drill site with their three autonomous supply sleds following them.
“Rodanthe kept checking on our suits and helmets,”Currawinya said. “That’s my job, but we appreciate that she was making sure we were okay. Even a little tear in a surfsuit can become a really big problem.”
Once they found the supply route, they picked up the pace.
“The last part went much quicker than I expected,” Aregua said. “I mean we all know how to lope, but to do it outside in surfsuits and emergency packs was different.”
“It’s not quite skipping,” supervisor Mangala said, “but it covers a lot of ground quickly, and it’s easy.”
The rangers all asked Mangala for his thoughts on their test.
“You’re all here, safe and sound,” Mangala said. “That’s the point of the test. To show that you know how to survive. You did great.”
Asked what she planned to do next, Tallin said she was hoping to land a position as a junior explorer with Survey Mars.
“We all spend most of our time indoors in our communities, and we have to,” said Tallin, whose work and studies have focused on resource geography. “But I really want to get out there and see a lot of Mars. I’d love to drive right up Olympus Mons.”
Calendar
Meet at Rick's
The new brew pub that is. See what’s on tap at Rick’s Cooperative brew pub, featuring brews from Rick himself and a few other brewers. Geryon Agora. Grand opening Saturday from 14:00.
Escape velocity
The Tithonia Museum has added threedee planetary spectacular to their exhibition of an exquisitely detailed orrery with gears and spheres that mimic the view from orbit of each of the planets. Through October. East Terrace 12
Mum's the word
After you soak up the greenery and humid air in Tithonia Gardens new fern forest house, wander over to the chrysanthemum display. It's a rainbow of great big masses of flowers. Through end October. Habtube 2, Terrace 4
City farmers' market
Going green with veggie envy? Get to the City farmer's market. Stalls available by appointment. Industrial Tube Terminal. Saturday 0900-1500
Rolling, rolling, rolling
Learn how to play the lawn bowling game of bocce (bot-chee). WestHill Terrace 2 by the terrace edge. 5 pm Tuesday, 10 am Saturday and Sunday. Message City Parks for information.
“My Sins Laid Bare”
Drama threedee. A spaceship captain whose mistakes cost lives, comes to terms with his failings and seeks redemption. Not recommended if you’re flying soon. Stage 3. Hab 1. Terrace 8 Oct. 6-Oct. 13, 18:00, 20:00, 22:00
City Strings Quartet
Quartet performs selections from Dvorak’s American Quartet. WestHill Terrace 4 Friday-Saturday 19:00
The Opera Tithonia
Issues open call for performers for the Strauss opera Der Fledermaus, Stage 1 on Terrace 8 (HabTube 1). Sunday noon
City Social
Mix and mingle with new arrivals and old hands. Hab 2. Terrace 4, by Tithonia Gardens. Every Friday 17:00
- Merry Grace, lifestyle correspondent
The Chaos Courier helps you over the rough spots.
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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)
The Candor Chaos Courier, Candor Chaos, Valles Marineris, Mars
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Photomosaic: Viking Orbiter: NASA/JPL-Caltech