Mars arrivals test out their new home
Superman finds out he isn't but there are pleasant surprises too
TITHONIA (URBS VALLIS), Dec. 15 - After a few hundred days in space, the newest residents of Mars largest city had a full weekend exploring their new hometown and testing out their new planet’s quirks.
That included two men who had a terrace-jumping contest and a new resident pushing the limits on Cubby etiquette, but mostly a lot of wonder and enjoyment among the nearly 2,000 newcomers to Mars biggest city.
Neither of the terrace jumpers won. One suffered an ankle fracture, and the other some widespread bruising.
“For the passengers who really kept up on the in-flight exercise, Mars provides a surprising boost to mobility,” City Safety inspector Irwin Mather said. “But you can’t really jump as far as John Carter on Barsoom.”
Mather noted that while things fall more slowly on Mars, over time the acceleration builds up
“Depending on the terrace, you can often jump down one level without injury, double-jumping is pushing it and triple jumping is just silly,” Mather said. “You can say so far so good as you fall, but the ground is still waiting.”
Asked how many terraces the men had jumped, Mather declined to say, adding, “I don’t want to set a bar for competition.”
Invited to move out
City Residence had to deal with an expected flurry of housing reassignment requests from people who have just moved into the Cubbies, the worker dormitories where they will stay for at least 200 sols.
“We try very hard to make sure people fit together well, but that doesn’t always work,” City Residence advisor Eloise Harmina said. “So, where we can simply swap out people for a better result, we’ll do so. They’re under enough stress right now.”
In one case, it was the other residents who asked for someone to be transferred.
“Well, one individual was thrown out of his Cubby by his cabinmates with his gear and assignment letter,” Harmina said. “It was a bit dramatic and emphatic, but we’ve addressed what we think the issue was and re-assigned him to an Ares Port cubby, closer to his posting.”
Harmina declined to specify what had caused the cabin ejection.
“Cubby etiquette is important if you’re going to get along with a roomful of strangers in tight quarters,” Harmina said. “His new roommates in Ares Port will surely provide more robust guidance if necessary.”
Accentuate the positive
By far the attitude of most of the new arrivals, who have been treated to a wide slate of entertainment options and other activities for their first weekend on Mars, was one of pleasant surprise.
“We’ve been dancing with our cabin mates, seen a goofy threedee and met a lot of very friendly people,” said industrial process engineer Jameson Tessera, who came from Earth.
“We went to the samba parties Saturday and Sunday, and while I’m really not ready to dance on Mars, we all had a lot of fun,” Tessera said.
It’s not just the activities, but the setting as the intense gardening of Mars’ largest city far exceeded his expectations, Tessera said.
“And, I’ve enjoyed just walking around the HabTube. It’s stunning, with trees and gardens and ponds.”
“I thought it’d be a lot more austere, like the Earth orbitals, but it’s like a beautiful city, with really great scenery just outside,” Tessera said.
Agricultural specialist Emilia Campanus, who admitted she was still finding her footing when it comes to walking and dancing, said she has been most surprised by the number of young parents and children.
“I know we all skew young (the contract workers) but I didn’t quite expect this many children,” said Campanus, adding that is a change from the Earth orbitals, where many workers come up for shorter terms.
“Here, there’s kids everywhere you look,” Campanus said. “Or moms and dads pushing prams with kids.”
Mars stowaway offers to unknot jammed space factory
Solution for mis-folding factory?
MARS CAROUSEL, Dec. 12 - While orbital technicians try to unjam a self-deploying factory ship that became stuck in its initial attempts to unfold properly, one of the stowaways who arrived on the cargo ship Pallene has offered a solution.
Four prefabricated factory ships arrived with the Earth fleet Nov. 30, and so far three have successfully completed their orbital deployment.
The fourth, however, became stuck only partially deployed after what Pontus Caelestis Orbital (Mars Carousel) Manager Johannes Tycho called a mis-fold last week.
“We’re reviewing how the other three ships deployed without incident, and we are working on a solution to getting this one set,” Orbital Cargo Supervisor Espen Trym said Wednesday.
Trym acknowledged that a possible solution for the jamming was offered by Orla Calaveras, one of the two stowaways who shipped themselves in a modified double cargo container from Earth orbit to Mars.
“We’ve got a few more thing to try first,” Trym said. “We don’t think we’ll need her help.” The four factory ships, designed for zero, micro and low gravity manufacturing, have taken up their permanent orbital slots above the Pontus Caelestis orbital, known as the Mars Carousel.
The factories are designed to produce high-value goods and components for export to Earth and for use on Mars and in orbit.
It's all in the fold
Calaveras, an enthusiast of origami, the art of paper folding, says her solution to the jammed factory involves altering the sequence of folds in a specific manner both backwards and forwards.
“They need to go back a few steps in a different sequence. and then unfold in another sequence for the next seven steps,” Calaveras said in a video call, holding a model of the mis-folded factory in her hand.
Folding and unfolding parts of the model made from thin sheets of plastic, Calaveras said she was fascinated by the problem and had studied the schematics.
“They may figure it out themselves, but they’re not on the right track yet,” Calaveras said.
Calaveras and her companion Luis Roving traveled to Mars in a heavily modified double container on the cargo ship, but have been barred from completing their journey
Mars DevCo has said the couple will not be permitted to transfer to the surface of Mars and would only be allowed to stay on the Carousel until a berth opens up on a return flight to Earth.
The next scheduled cargo and passenger flight to Earth doesn’t leave until late June, or about 420 sols, although a Luna shuttle flight may depart sooner.
Until then the couple, who are expecting a baby later this month, are staying in their cargo pod inside a former spaceliner now being used as housing for the O’Ceileachair (O’Kelleher) orbital shipyard.
Calaveras, a product design specialist, says she designed the living quarters in the double cargo pod using her skill in origami.
The design provides a relatively un-cramped living space, with furnishing and conveniences that folded out as needed and could be easily stowed when not in use.
“It was a very detailed process,” said Roving, who says he built the living quarters from scrap in the cargo pod which had been scheduled for disposal.
The O’Ceileachair Exploration Group has negotiated a licensing deal for the couple’s designs for use in orbit and in spaceships and has offered to cover any unpaid costs related to their journey.
Calaveras says she is willing to offer her solution to the factory mis-fold to Mars DevCo at no cost other than being allowed to stay, and that she’s open to a licensing deal for her interior designs for Tithonia Habtube and other surface habitations.
“Really, we’d just like to stay here and make use of our skills in orbit and on Mars,” Calaveras messaged. “It’s why we came here.”
Orson Welles completes first stage of shuttleport upgrade
City-to-city shuttle service on the horizon?
ORSON WELLES, Dec. 15 - The first stage of the shuttleport upgrade here has been completed with the opening of an inflatable dome terminal, partially covered in printed stone, along with a shuttle ramp to allow passengers to move directly from the aircraft to the building.
“We don’t get a lot of traffic, but our first passengers should arrive later this week with a Survey Mars scientific crew doing research in the channels to the south,” Xanthe Terra Council President Sylvana Phison said at the port on Saturday.
Phison and councillor Perpetua Heathering said they hope the improved facilities will help to spur the estasblishment of regularly scheduled shuttle flights across the Valles Marineris, but that will depend upon Mars DevCo.
The first step of the Welles project was likely the fastest, Phison said, as it involved inflating a large bubble habitat, adding structural supports and beginning the printing of a stone exterior, which will extend about a third of the way up the dome.
Once the exterior wall is printed, the dome's top will be covered with translucent and transparent sandglass. Then the interior will be sealed and the process repeated for the second and subsequent buildings.
“It’s pretty much a somewhat smaller copy of the Welles dome, and just about like every building in Melas,” Phison said.
The Xanthe Terra Council, which includes a new settlement to the northeast in the Shalbatana Vallis, voted to upgrade the shuttle facilities roughly six weeks ago at their last November meeting.
While the project is still in its initial phases, it eliminates the need for shuttle passengers to put on surf suits and climb down to the landing pad before moving into the terminal.
Air cars for Mars
The Xanthe Terra council plans to seek support from other chasmata to initiate regular shuttle flights between all of the Valles Marineris settlements, said Heathering, a former Survey Mars explorer.
“All of the settlements are growing, but we’re a bit far flung,” Heathering said. “The whole Valley will grow at a faster pace if we are more easily able to trade and travel via air.”
Such service would require the approval of Mars DevCo, which regulates shuttle traffic on the planet and to the orbital facilities, including the Mars Carousel.
Asked whether the company would consider initiating regular shuttle service on the planet, a Mars DevCo official said the company continues to focus on the overall growth and development of orbital and surface facilities that best support increased trade with Earth.
Interchasmata shuttle service woud have to be considered in that context, Mars DevCo Transportation Chief Hartley Adams
“We’re building out the orbitals and growing our industrial base in Ares Port and Tithonia in a way that best fits that business model,” Mars DevCo Transportation Chief Hartley Adams. “We’re very focused on increasing traffic to and from the orbital facilities, which facilitate trade with our Earth partners.”
Asked whether DevCo would be amenable to a private company or local councils initiating such service, Adams said the company would have to determine whether that would align with its goals.
Heathering noted that trade between chasmata has been increasing but at a slow pace given the long distances and lengthy travel times. Currently, land tractors move at around 5 kmh.
“The scenery is incredible, but it’s more than 60 sols to Coprates from here and another 25 to Ius overland,” Heathering said. “Plus, you generally want to put together a supply train or caravan on such a long trip.”
It’s 2,800 km by air from Orson Welles to Tithonia and Ares Port in the western end of Tithonium Chasma, which a shuttle can cross in a matter of hours, rather than months.
That compares with a land journey of around 120 sols from Welles to Tithonia through Corprates and Ius Chasmata.
While bulky and heavy goods would still travel by overland supply train, regular shuttle service would make passenger travel much easier and faster, Heathering said.
“That would probably appeal to Tithonia residents who’d like to see more of Mars than the Tithonia habitational tube and Ares Port,” Heathering said.
On the other hand, skilled workers in Ius, Melas, Candor and Coprates might be more willing to spend time in Tithonia if they could move around more readily.
“I’m sure the local councils would support regular shuttle service,” Heathering said. “It’s holding all of us back, including DevCo.”
Starliner captain hears the call of space
A truck stop halfway to Ceres?
ORBITAL CARGO YARD, Dec. 14 - Wandering Star Capt. Hervé Xenokostas sat on the command deck of his damaged and empty space-liner, looking out at the Mars Carousel orbital spinning lazily above the Valles Marineris, wondering where his next destination will be.
“There aren’t a lot of openings for space-liner captains,” Xenokostas said in an interview Friday aboard the Wandering Star, which has been moored in the orbital cargo yard since arriving in orbit on Wednesday.
The ship was crippled by engine explosions on approached to Mars, forcing the evacuation of all of its 250 passengers and half of its two dozen crew members.
Now that he’s reached Mars nearly five weeks after the Earth fleet, Xenokostas says he’s hoping to go even further, but right now he can’t think ahead of next week.
The captain and his flight crew will remain aboard the ship for a few more days before transferring to the Mars Carousel for the review board hearing into the engine explosions on Nov. 11 and Nov. 16 that tore a ragged gash in the ship’s hull.
To limit damage to the ship, Xenokostas ordered the jettisoning of the entire propulsion stage, leaving the half-kilometer-long ship without power.
Propelled by the modified, but much smaller, explorer scout Boudicca, the Wandering Star arrived in Mars orbit 33 days after the main fleet’s Nov. 30 arrival.
“I could go back to Earth with the return fleet, but I’d be waiting here until June, on Mars,—that’s just over a year from now on Earth,” Xenokostas said. “We need faster ships, but right now Earth is still running away from us at just over a million kilometers every sol, and we’d need much faster ships to catch up.”
Even the higher-speed shuttles won’t leave until there’s a more favorable alignment between the two planets.
Hoping for the all clear
Xenokostas, who has now captained two ships to Mars, said his first priority is the review board hearing that will investigate both the cause of the explosions and assess his response as captain.
Only one crew member suffered serious injuries in the explosion, which forced him and two other engineering crew to evacuate in an escape module that tumbled through space and lost contact with the fleet for four days.
“We were very lucky, but the questions will be whether it was necessary to jettison the entire propulsion stage and to evacuate all of the passengers,” Xenokostas said. “I’ve replayed those decisions over and over but the review board will have final say.”
Decisions about his own future will have to wait for the review board’s determination and a decision by Mars DevCo about what to do with the ship.
Right now, the 11 remaining crew members are busy preparing the passenger quarters and common areas to prepare them for cleaning and potentially dismantling.
Most of the passenger liner and cargo hulls will be destined for future expansion of the wheel-shaped, 25 km circumference Mars Carousel.
Orbital management has said it plans to add a second wheel, which will require about 50 of the half-kilometer hulls.
“They have enough hulls already in storage, and just have to put them together, so the Wandering Star might be headed for the ship breakers,” Xenokostas said, adding he hoped the ship could be used for exploration instead.
“I’ve been to Mars twice now and I’d like to go out further, either out to the asteroid belt, or even Jupiter,” Xenokostas said.
A truck stop halfway to Ceres
While Mars DevCo is building up facilities in orbit for a longer term exploration program, explorer scout captains Attracta and Electra O’Ceileachair (O’Kelleher) are seeking to pick up the pace after their return in June from an exploration of the Belt in their ships, the Boudicca and Beansí (Banshee).
The O’Ceileachairs have helped DevCo in its expansion of its own cargo yard and are expanding their shipyard to build and modify ships with the more powerful engines that they have developed and installed in their own ships.
Those kind of advancements could accelerate exploration and development beyond Mars, Xenokosta said.
“I’ll admit it’s a bit futuristic,” Xenokostas said, “But I’ve been thinking about setting up a space station way out in space.”
The Wandering Star and other hulls could be used to set up a permanent staging station midway to the Belt so that ships don’t have to come all the way back to Mars for supplies, or even for a little ‘shore’ leave, Xenokostas said.
“You could set it spinning like the Carousel for a bit of gravity, but you can do it with four or eight hulls, linked to a central core,” Xenokostas said.
The captain says he envisions that as something similar to the Noctis Labyrinthus Grange Hall, which offers facilities for the cargo caravans that carry supplies around the Vallis Marineris.
“They call it the first truck stop on Mars,” Xenokostas said. “I’m thinking of a truck stop halfway to Ceres.”
Calendar
City Guides Arrivals Week 2 recap
Meeting for City Guide volunteers helping the new arrivals. Week 2 debrief and planning for Arrivals Week 3. You can still volunteer. Refreshments. Monday Hab 1 Terrace 8 outside Council Hall. 19:00
The Opera Tithonia.
Selections from the Strauss opera Der Fledermaus. Stage 1 on Terrace 2 (HabTube 1). Saturday-Sunday noon
City Strings "Coming Home Concert"
Ensemble performs selections from Dvorak's "New World Symphony." " Refreshments. Mariners Hall. WestHill Terrace 4. Friday-Sunday 16:00
“High Seas”
“High Seas” Pirates plague the ancient northern sea of Mars. Adventure threedee. Stage 3. Hab 1. Terrace 8 Dec. 20-26, 18:00, 20:00, 22:00
Samba Marte Dancing and Music.
Hab3 Terrace 2 by the bamboo grove. Friday-Saturday 19:00. Sunday Family dance 14:00
Rhumba Cats and City Samba.
Team up for MarsSamba and dancing. All acoustic. Hab 1 Terrace 4 outside the Canteen C. Refreshments. Just one flight up from the Cubbies. Saturday-Sunday 15:00
City Social
Mix and mingle with new arrivals and old hands. Acoustic duo Harris and Fitz will put an arrow through your heart. Hab 2. Terrace 4, by Tithonia Gardens. Friday 17:00
“La Bandita” live
You’ll fall in love too. “La Bandita,” a one-woman play by the author of the romantic threedee, “La Bandita - Thief of Hearts” will be performed by writer Phoebe Nyx at the Geryon Agora Saturday 21:00. The thief of hearts tells how she met her match, sparking a fiery romance. Happy ending? Find out at the Geryon Agora Theater Saturday 21:00.
Las Panteras de Marte
Singer Monique Solis, guitarist Hernando Senatobia and accordionist Ignacio Beck, play Mars-style Norteño music. You’ll dance. You'll love it! Ius Forum. Saturday 19:00
Marsball
Kind of like basketball, with really high baskets. Rules and regulations are evolving. They'll take it easy if you're just finding your feet. Hab 3 Terrace 1 Gymnasium area Saturday 08:00
Volleyball
Get ready to jump without worrying about the ceiling. Learn to play volleyball at the new Hab3 beach. Saturday, Sunday sessions 08:00, 10:00, 12:00. North Beach Hab3 Terrace 1
Lawn bowling
Learn how to play the lawn bowling game of bocce (bot-chee). WestHill Terrace 2 by the terrace edge. 10 am. Message City Parks for information.
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
- Merry Grace, lifestyle correspondent
Classified Ads
SHIP REFITTING, BREAKING All craft, parts and refurb. PONTUS 100 751
DUST MAGNET. Won’t let the dust get past the airlock. CANDOR 286 87919
FURNITURE Printer Stock. And cushions for a comfy seat IUS 278 58897
WALL PRINTERS All shapes and contours. MELAS 285 45672
SURFSUIT Refurbishing. Fabric and boot repair, seal replacement, visor refurbishing, comms upgrades. COPRATES 297-14210
CARGO HANDLERS. Space experience required. Contract exemptions considered. PONTUS 100 419
ROCKET SCIENTIST. Engine upgrade project, Ex-contract only. PONTUS 100 637
SHUTTLE MECHANICS. Experienced preferred, but we’ll train you if you have the skills. Ex-contract only. PONTUS 100 635
CONSTRUCTION All specialties. Some outside. Ex-contract only. GERYON 278 68034
DRILLING specialists, supervisors and crew. Ex-contract only MELAS 285 13941
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 Machine repair 8 annos (14 years) and up. NOCTIS 260 21188
APPRENTICES Hydroponics. 8 annos and up. URBS 269 44085
APPRENTICES Environmental systems. MELAS 285 74223
SPACE CAMP. Get ready for orbital work. All ages. ARES PORT 268 00910
BALLET Poise, strength, balance, beauty. Très grands jetés URBS 269 62577
RAAS / GARBA Dance performers for existing troupe. COPRATES 295 45788
CRICKET Mars style. Two teams. Unfamiliar? They’ll explain it. COPRATES 295 21508
MARTIAL ARTS. Conditioning and confidence. Weighted and natural. GERYON 278 71435
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
The Chaos Courier gets you over the rough spots
Future News from Small Town Mars
Copyright © 2025, M. Fitzpatrick, all rights reserved
Photomosaic: Viking Orbiter: NASA/JPL-Caltech