Building a World on Mars

My new middle-grade novel, Ticket to Mars, was inspired by the climate anxiety that so many of us (especially young people) suffer from these days. I wondered what the Earth might be like in the distant future. Would there be any humans left, or would they have moved somewhere else?

So, I imagined a world where rising seas have flooded most of the planet. Cities have dealt with the problem in different ways. Paris has built a huge wall around itself to keep out the water, but the people of New York (now called Newer York) have chosen to rise above the floodwaters in huge concrete towers, nicknamed Heaven’s Ladders. The problem with this is that the waters keep rising, and each year, homes at the bottom of the towers are submerged. This leads to a hierarchy in each tower with the rich living at the top, and the poor at the bottom.

Veon Windbourne is a thirteen-year-old Mid-Tower boy who, like everybody else, dreams of moving to Harmonia, the first city on Mars, but he knows he and his mum will never be able to afford to go there. That is, until he accidentally discovers that she has been stashing money beneath their floor for years and has almost saved the price of two tickets to the Red Planet.

Disaster strikes when their money is stolen, but Veon goes on the trail of the thief. He enrols himself on a new initiative to bring children from Earth to Mars, to combat the shortage of childbirths due to low fertility among Harmonians. That’s what he is told, anyway. Indeed, when he gets there, he finds that it’s true – there are no children in Harmonia, but it’s not because of low fertility. Something else is going on…

While I gave my imagination free rein to create the city of Newer York, I wanted my Martian world to be grounded somewhat in science. So, my first question was:

How long would it take Veon to get to Mars? At the moment, it takes 7-9 months, but in the future, with the advancement of perhaps, fusion rockets, this time could be cut in half. I wanted the journey to feel epic, so I went with the 7–9-month option. So, you’ll need to pack a lot of sandwiches!

Would Mars have a breathable atmosphere? At the moment, its atmosphere is so thin that you couldn’t breathe freely in it, but in the future, if the planet were terraformed (which involves planting trees) a breathable atmosphere could be created, though this could take anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 years. My new world on Mars hasn’t been around that long, so I went with the unbreathable atmosphere option. This means Veon will (a) need to wear a spacesuit with oxygen, or (b) die.

Would landing on Mars be tricky? The thin atmosphere means there is very little to slow your craft down as you approach, so yes, landing is really difficult, unless you want to crash-land. The option I went with was that, upon approach, Veon’s rocket has to rotate to employ boosters to slow it down. I’ve never tried this manoeuvre, but I’m guessing it’s like approaching a toilet in a very narrow cubicle, which is always tricky!

Can you walk on Mars? Gravity on the Red Planet is 38% of Earth’s gravity, so you will feel much lighter, but some of this will be negated by the weight and bulk of your suit. So, walking might feel a little strange, but you’ll soon get used to it, and if you start playing basketball, you’ll easily be able to do a slam dunk!

What will Mars look like? I didn’t want a highly populated planet because my humans haven’t been there that long, so I chose to keep Mars looking pretty much as it does now: basically, like a desert, but red, due to the iron oxide in the soil. That’s why it’s called Mars, after the Roman god of war, because it looks bloody. It’s not named after the chocolate bar that is very popular in my native Ireland!

What will the sky be like on Mars? During the day, it could range from yellow to pink to blue or black, depending on dust levels. At night, it’ll look pretty much like the sky does here: black, with stars, but with two moons, Phobos and Deimos. And you might just be able to see Planet Earth, so give it a wave, because you’re probably never going back!

What can you hear on Mars? Without a thick atmosphere, sound is muffled and travels slowly, so you’ll probably see that armoured tank long before you’ll hear it coming.

What will the weather be like? The forecast for today (and every other day) is cold, dry and windy, so not an ideal holiday destination, but better than living on a flooded planet. Or is it?

How long is a day on Mars? A Martian day is called a Sol and is almost exactly the same length as a day on Earth, but 39 minutes and 35 seconds longer — just enough time to watch an extra episode of The X-Files or four episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants!

How long is a year on Mars? A Martian year is double the length of a year on Earth — 687 Earth days, to be precise, which means you would be approximately half your age on Mars. So, Veon, who is 13 years old on Earth, would only be 7 years old on Mars. Forget anti-ageing creams — just go to Mars!

So, we’ve landed, and now we know what the place is like, but where are we going to live?

Mars is extremely cold, so our new home will have to be insulated. It will also have to be pressurised, because there is very little atmospheric pressure on Mars. Also, the planet has no magnetic field to protect us from cosmic radiation and, with very little atmosphere to protect us from meteors, whatever roof we live under will need to be thick and strong.

Scientists reckon the first visitors will live in inflatable pods or 3D-printed modules, but I didn’t want that. In my story, people have been living on Mars for a long time and have built a city there. I wanted it to be as impressive as its name — Harmonia — so I looked at what was already there: lots of extinct volcanoes. Now, wouldn’t that be a cool place to build a city?

But what will we build it from?

Again, I looked at what was available. A large percentage of the Martian crust is composed of silicon dioxide. And what can you make from silicon dioxide?

Glass!

And there you have it – Harmonia was born. A glass city inside a hollowed-out volcano, sealed off from the harsh Martian environment by a huge glass dome. This is the moment when Veon first enters the city.

He was standing in the middle of an extinct volcano, the centre of which had been carved out by the first Martians to make room for the city that was latched to the walls all around.

Thousands of glass buildings covered the entire surface of the carved-out crater, rising in a dizzying spiral to the huge glass dome on top, through which sunlight poured, glinting and sparkling off the crystal surfaces.

The dwellings were all connected to their neighbours by walkways, much like the balconies in Heaven’s Ladders, only made from glass. Distant figures, like insects, moved along them and up and down stairs and elevators.

It was truly breathtaking, like being inside an enormous, honeycombed beehive made of glittering light.

 

It seems so different to Veon’s home on Earth, and yet he sees the comparisons with Heaven’s Ladders. This got me thinking. Maybe Harmonia could be very different but also very similar to Newer York.

Here’s how I made it different: The homes are all made of glass, which, at the owner’s command, can become opaque for privacy. A voice-activated artificial intelligence controls the houses, running showers, preparing food, etc., as well as monitoring the owner’s health. Technology is everywhere in the city, designed to make the lives of Harmonians easier with glass elevators, digital communication systems and robotic assistants.

Society is different, too. Each resident is given a citizen number which changes depending on their behaviour. Good deeds and hard work lower your number, giving you higher wages, greater privileges, and the chance to join Harmonia’s ruling council. 

All sounds lovely… harmonious, even, but Veon isn’t there long before he gets a taste of the city’s advanced surveillance system, controlled airlocks and heavily armed Red Guards, which makes him think that some things haven’t changed in this supposed ‘new society’.

Here’s how I made it the same: Harmonia is structured just like Heaven’s Ladders, with the rich people living at the top in mansions with things Veon has only ever seen in history books: wooden doors, gardens and pets. The more he sees of the city, the fouler it starts to smell. And where have all the children gone?

Well, I guess you’ll have to read the book to find out!

Kieran Fanning lives in Ireland and is a teacher and author for young people. His latest novel, Ticket to Mars, is an action-packed sci-fi adventure for children aged 10+ (and adults). It is described by author Chris Callaghan as “a slick sci-fi mystery that twists and turns like a rocket ride through an asteroid belt” and is available to order in bookshops and online.