Mars

Basic Information

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System. Often called the "Red Planet" due to its reddish appearance caused by iron oxide on its surface. Mars is a primary target for human colonization in the game with 25 habitation sites available.

Gallery

HemisphereProjectionHab surfacePhoto

Additional Information

Exploration Tech

The Global Technology Mission to Mars is required research to enable sending probes to this planetary system.

Mission to Mars

Scientists study exploration and colonization of the red planet.

---

"It takes so very little for one tribe of humanity to look upon a second tribe as The Other. Think of what will happen once hundreds of millions of kilometers lie between us."

Chancellor Li Qingzhao, the Academy

"Distributed Humanity"

Though it is scarcely an appealing home, there is no better prospect within our solar system for eventual colonization than our crimson neighbor, Mars. It lacks a breathable atmosphere, the radiation risk from both galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles is extreme, the soil is flooded with toxins, and the low gravity will weaken both bones and muscles and cause cardiovascular problems. Then there is the cold, and the minimal supply of water... And with travel each way also taking months, at least until such time as we have made profound progress in spaceflight technology, only the bravest and hardiest pioneers would dare take this chance. Yet if humanity is ever to explore the stars, or settle on further-out planets, or to trace our alien visitors to their own homeworld, there is simply no choice other than Mars. In terms of temperature, sunlight, and simple proximity, no other planet in our system comes close. Our scientists are now confident that the settling of a limited number of highly-trained personnel will be possible, thanks to a combination of highly complex life-support systems and certain cyanobacteria capable of photosynthesis even on Mars' hostile surface. The latter, grown at sufficient scale, can generate both food and oxygen locally, and allow the propagation of more complex organisms. It is from these starting blocks that long-term life on Mars will begin.

–Allows sending probes to Mars and inner-system asteroids and the construction of habitats at those locations
–Allows exploration and construction at the Sun-Earth Lagrange Points and asteroids in the Earth orbital region
–The number of habitat mining modules we can support without paying a Mission Control cost increases by 6
–Factions that contributed more to this tech will complete scans of the space body faster

Mining Sites

Notes:

• Negative values are not a bug, the game actually sets the median to a negative value to make it incredibly unlikely for the site to have a positive mine output. But note that the actual mined amount cannot actually be negative.
• Blank values indicate that the site can never produce this resource. In contrast, 0 indicates that there is still up to 50% chance for the site to produce the resource.
• Values shown do not take into account the final capping of the Noble Metals output to just 1/2 or 1/3 of the Base Metals output.
• Top 50% Mean is the average value of the top 50% of possible rolls. It is also a much looser estimate than the median because it cannot handle edge cases such as where the mininum value is too close to the median value.

MedianTop 50% Mean

Site Name	Parent Body	Mining Profile	Max Hab Tier	Median Resources (after Mass/Density Modifiers)
Schiaparelli Crater	Mars	Martian Lowlands	4	10	15	30	5	0
Terra Sabaea	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Argyre Planitia	Mars	Martian South Polar	4	50	20	10	0	0
Noctis Labyrinthus	Mars	Martian Lowlands	4	10	15	30	5	0
Xanthe Terra	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Daedalia Planum	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Tempe Terra	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Scylla Scopulus	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Olympus Mons	Mars	Martian Volcanic	4	10	25	40	15	0
Aonia Terra	Mars	Martian South Polar	4	50	20	10	0	0
Arcadia Planitia	Mars	Martian North Polar	4	50	20	10	0	0.2
Tyrrhena Terra	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Terra Sirenum	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Noachis Terra	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Arabia Terra	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Hellas Planitia	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Promethei Terra	Mars	Martian South Polar	4	50	20	10	0	0
Utopia Planitia	Mars	Martian North Polar	4	50	20	10	0	0.2
Valles Marineris	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Tantalus Fossae	Mars	Martian North Polar	4	50	20	10	0	0.2
Isidis Planitia	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Elysium Planitia	Mars	Martian	4	20	20	20	0	0
Acidalia Planitia	Mars	Martian North Polar	4	50	20	10	0	0.2
Ares Valles	Mars	Martian Lowlands	4	10	15	30	5	0
Tharsis Montes	Mars	Martian Volcanic	4	10	25	40	15	0
Total: 25 Hab Sites				660	495	500	45	0.8

Site Name	Parent Body	Mining Profile	Max Hab Tier	Estimated Top 50% Mean Resources (after Mass/Density Modifiers)
Schiaparelli Crater	Mars	Martian Lowlands	4	11.25	17.5	40	6.111	0.429
Terra Sabaea	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Argyre Planitia	Mars	Martian South Polar	4	52.5	22.5	12.5	0.556	0.429
Noctis Labyrinthus	Mars	Martian Lowlands	4	11.25	17.5	40	6.111	0.429
Xanthe Terra	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Daedalia Planum	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Tempe Terra	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Scylla Scopulus	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Olympus Mons	Mars	Martian Volcanic	4	10.556	27.5	46.429	17.5	0.429
Aonia Terra	Mars	Martian South Polar	4	52.5	22.5	12.5	0.556	0.429
Arcadia Planitia	Mars	Martian North Polar	4	52.5	22.5	12.5	0.556	1.057
Tyrrhena Terra	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Terra Sirenum	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Noachis Terra	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Arabia Terra	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Hellas Planitia	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Promethei Terra	Mars	Martian South Polar	4	52.5	22.5	12.5	0.556	0.429
Utopia Planitia	Mars	Martian North Polar	4	52.5	22.5	12.5	0.556	1.057
Valles Marineris	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Tantalus Fossae	Mars	Martian North Polar	4	52.5	22.5	12.5	0.556	1.057
Isidis Planitia	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Elysium Planitia	Mars	Martian	4	20.556	22.5	33.333	2.5	0.536
Acidalia Planitia	Mars	Martian North Polar	4	52.5	22.5	12.5	0.556	1.057
Ares Valles	Mars	Martian Lowlands	4	11.25	17.5	40	6.111	0.429
Tharsis Montes	Mars	Martian Volcanic	4	10.556	27.5	46.429	17.5	0.429
Total: 25 Hab Sites				689.583	557.5	733.69	89.722	14.621

Strategic Value

Mars represents the first major colonization effort beyond the Earth-Moon system. Its numerous habitation sites and relatively hospitable conditions make it a crucial stepping stone for further solar system development.

Narrative Events

Journey to InSight

InSight lander site visited.

With our presence on Mars firmly established, a small research team has taken the time to seek out NASA's InSight lander, which had spent several years studying the red planet's seismography before going dark in December 2022. The data it gathered was instrumental in finding suitable prospective sites for our manned bases.

1. Establish a memorial site.

   Astronauts working for {targetFactionName} have built a memorial to the InSight lander.

2. Clean it up, make a few repairs, and let it continue its mission.

   Engineers with {targetFactionName} have put the InSight lander back to work.

3. Scrap it, and sell the parts to the highest bidder.

   Supporters of {targetFactionName} are selling mementos of the InSight lander.

Lone marine defeats alien infiltration

One marine "fights through hell."

Attempts by the Aliens to infiltrate {targetHabName} on Mars were foiled after a lone marine escaped the preliminary destruction of the barracks there, then went on a one-man rampage through the Alien combat team. As one of the emergency responders commented, "He ripped 'em a new one. Really tore them apart!"

The marine, known to be a fan of heavy metal, declined to comment.

Olympus Mons

A scientific expedition from {targetHabName} has begun exploring Olympus Mons.

More than twice the height of Mount Everest on Earth, Olympus Mons is the tallest mountain in the Solar System and one of the largest volcanoes. It is so large that an observer standing on the peak would be unable to tell they were on a tall mountain, as the gentle downwards slope extends well beyond the horizon.

The awesome size of Olympus Mons is thought to be due to the lack of mobile tectonic plates on Mars. Fixed over a stationary hotspot, the volcano was able to discharge lava for an extremely long time, creating its massive dimensions.

1. A quick survey is all we need.

   {targetFactionName} endorses a quick survey of Olympus Mons.

2. Set up camp and collect as much information as possible.

   {targetFactionName} endorses a detailed survey of Olympus Mons.

Real world statistics & trivia

• Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system and arguably the tallest mountain (contended by a recent unnamed discovery on Máni and Rheasilvia on Vesta). At nearly 20 km high, it is about 2.5 times the elevation of Mount Everest.
• Mars has distinctive polar ice caps which are not depicted in Terra Invicta. Mars is cold enough to freeze CO₂, which can form layers up to 8m thick at the southern pole. In winter, this measurably depletes the planet's already thin atmosphere.