Mars
From ExodusWar
| Mars | ||
|---|---|---|
 Mars, as seen from orbit | ||
| Star System | Sol System | |
| Population | 2.4 billion | |
| Sovereign: | United Earth Alliance: 2018 to 2315 Onyx Empire: 2315 to 2323 Sol System Authority: 2323-onwards | |
| Capital | None | |
| Orbit | 686.971 days | |
| Rotation | 24.622 hours | |
| Satellite(s) | Phobos Deimos | |
| Satellite Orbit | 18 hours (Phobos) 30 hours (Deimos) | |
Mars is the fourth planet in the Sol System. It was the first world to be terraformed by the Terran race.
Mars now has massive fresh water supplies and an engineered biosphere capable of supporting carbon-based life. Mars had no natural magnetosphere: the Terrans built one, which shielded their newly added nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere. The atmosphere also serves as a shield that causes smaller meteors to burn up before they strike the surface.
About 60% of the surface is covered with fresh-water oceans. The remaining 40% consists of continents and islands. The planet's outer surface is a solid crust, which has begun to slowly divide into tectonic plates. Mars' interior was relatively inactive, but has become more active recently.
Mars interacts with outer space less than other terrestrial worlds. Its small moons, Phobos and Deimos, barely have the gravitational pull to provide ocean tides. Mars does not have an axial tilt, which gives it only one season in a year.
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[edit] History
Mars was never populated before the Sundering. The Terrans managed to reach Mars in 2018, using the Orion Spacecraft and the first hyperspace engine. The Adin Band made it possible for ships from Earth to complete a flight from one planet to the other in a mere five minutes. The United Earth Alliance Space Agency began a plan to colonize, and later terraform the planet.
[edit] Geography
Mars has six continents, all of which are inhabited. Mars also has a network of oceans and seas. The largest is the Moeris Ocean, and the Syrtis Ocean is a close second. The Solis Sea, Tithonius Sea, and Maria Sirenum are all smaller inland seas.
[edit] Hellas Planitia
[edit] Aeria
[edit] Chryse Planitia
[edit] Ausonia
[edit] Zephyria
[edit] Tharsis
[edit] Surface Conditions
Mars has a weak, artificial magnetic field which the Terrans are constantly seeking to upgrade. Martian terrain has changed greatly over the years since terraformation. Its craters have levelled over time. About 55% of the surface is now covered by water. The submerged surface still has crater features, along with trenches, submarine canyons, and abyssal plains. The remaining 45% not covered by water consists of mountains, plains, and plateaus.
Mars can be sub-divided into specific areas with relatively homogeneous climates. Due to the low size of the continents and regular distribution of oceans and seas, Mars only has subtropical, temperate and polar climates.
[edit] Hazards
Since the planet was terraformed, Mars has developed a somewhat unpredictable climate. Because its oceans are broken up more than most larger terrestrial worlds, it does not develop huge cyclonic storms, but does have a very wet climate with a lot of storm activity. Seismic activity has slowly increased, causing tsunamis to be a relatively regular occurance in some coastal regions.
[edit] Orbit and Rotation
It takes Mars 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds to rotate around it's axis. From Mars, the apparent motion of celestial bodies in the sky is to the west. Mars orbits Sol every 685.758 days. Phobos now has an artificially raised orbit and orbit Mars every 18 hours. Deimos orbits around Mars every 30 hours.
[edit] Moons
Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small, irregular asteroid-like satellite, with small diameters.
Now that it has been terraformed, Mars provides the requisite conditions of liquid water, an environment where complex organic molecules can assemble, and sufficient energy to sustain metabolism.
