Ultimate Adventure Novel: Mars

by David Borgenicht

  DECIDE TO PLUG IN THE SUITS.

  USE THE LINING OF THE TANKS FOR INSULATION.

  You and Julie race out to where the rover is parked. Julie takes the wheel of the vehicle, and you grip the side as she drives out into the rocky Martian terrain. It’s awe inspiring! As you head away from the colony, you’re impressed by how incredibly tiny you feel. All around, there is nothing but reddish dust, craters, and rocks, and pale pinkish sky.

  Julie expertly navigates over to the area where she expects to find something. Since you guys aren’t outfitted in your space suits and rushed out into the frontier in a pressurized rover, you’ll be using telerobots to investigate for you. Julie commands a telerobot to take close-up video, while you watch on a screen. Back and forth, the telerobot moves, zooming in close any time Julie sees something promising. But, in the end, you haven’t found any evidence of early life on Mars.

  You try to encourage Julie on the drive back to base. “We’ll keep searching, Julie, and maybe find something next time.”

  “It’s okay,” she replies. “I didn’t expect to find something on the first try, but it would have been nice…wait! What’s happening?”

  You notice the rover start to sputter and slow down. The fuel gauge is almost at empty.

  “How in the world are we out of fuel already?” you ask.

  “I…um…didn’t check it before we left. And in my hurry to get out, I forgot to take an extra tank of fuel,” she replies. “I can’t believe I did that.”

  Great! Now you’re going to have to call base to get another rover out to rescue you, and get caught for leaving base without permission in the first place! Unless…what if you find another source of fuel to get you back? You passed a science station a little while ago that had a couple rovers parked outside. Maybe you could borrow a little fuel from them? No one would need to know! What do you do?

  TAKE FUEL FROM ANOTHER ROVER.

  CALL BASE AND ADMIT WHAT HAPPENED.

  “Thanks for the invitation, Julie, but I think I’d better work on building these domes,” you say. “We have a tight schedule, and I wouldn’t want the mission to end with these domes still unfinished.”

  Even though you’d love to go exploring, you do enjoy your work with the engineering team. You’re helping them to design the best domes for working in, living in, and playing in. The team decides what materials to use, where exactly to build, and how much to pressurize each dome. And then there’s the satisfaction of seeing a new dome come to life, and knowing that you were a part of it.

  But luckily, you don’t have the chance to regret your decision to pass on getting off the base, because soon you are assigned to your very own expedition, to scout for water resources.

  Even though no water exists in liquid form on Mars, there’s a decent amount of it in the form of ice waiting to be discovered.

  The more ice you can find, the bigger the colony can grow, and the less you’ll have to rely on the very expensive process of making water with hydrogen from tanks brought from Earth.

  You head out the next week in the rover with Nico, thrilled to be sharing in this adventure with your good friend.

  Nico is confident you’ll find ice—which would be a big win for your team. You hope so too.

  After searching for several hours unsuccessfully, using ground-penetrating radar and other equipment, you finally strike the next best thing to ice…permafrost! You are ecstatic! Permafrost is frozen mud, which is great not only because you can extract water from it, but also because you can build with it. Permafrost bricks are even stronger than clay bricks, and after all the construction work you’ve been doing, you know how valuable it is. You’d be proud to show up back at base with a trailer full of the stuff.

  But Nico isn’t nearly as excited. “I know we’ll find ice if we keep looking. I think we’re getting closer,” he says.

  You’re not so sure. It’ll be getting dark soon, and you’d rather use the time to carve out chunks of permafrost than waste time looking for ice. Ice is much rarer, and you’d prefer to go back to base with something useful in hand, rather than nothing at all. Nico is insisting that if you find ice, it would be worth it!

  You have a choice: you can either split up and let Nico keep looking on his own while you work to take the permafrost back to base, or you can join Nico on his quest.

  WORK TO TAKE THE PERMAFROST BACK.

  KEEP SEARCHING FOR ICE WITH NICO.

  You report to the construction dome, ready to make bricks out of Martian clay that will be used to expand the colony. It’s certainly not rocket science, and you’re not at all excited about the work—collecting the reddish clay that is in abundance outside and molding it into bricks, and then baking them in a basic solar-powered oven. After a few weeks, you get into a rhythm and start to feel a small sense of satisfaction as you see the pile of bricks you’ve made growing nicely. But that sense of satisfaction doesn’t amount to much, because a much stronger feeling takes over every time you catch a glimpse of the Martian frontier, and feel an overwhelming urge to get out there and go exploring. You can’t help but believe that there’s something great waiting to be discovered out there!

  And then, the next day, along comes Gene. Gene is a staff engineer you met on the colony. He says he needs to calibrate the ovens and make some adjustments. It’s going to take him a few hours, during which time you won’t be able to bake any bricks. You probably should go out and collect more clay and mold bricks while you wait. Or you could offer to help out with the ovens. Or…Gene has a rover with him, which he drove over from the other side of the colony. What if you asked Gene if you could borrow his rover to do a little exploring on the Martian frontier? You’ve been working hard and deserve a break, don’t you? You’ll just be gone for a few hours, and no one else will even need to know. If you find something fantastic, it’ll be worth it. But, leaving would mean you’d be technically going outside of your work orders without authorization. Plus, all rover outings require special permission, so they can be tracked—an annoying rule that causes a lot of grumbling on the base. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to bend the rules just this once, and you can tell Gene is pretty cool…

  STICK TO MAKING BRICKS AND OFFER TO HELP GENE.

  BORROW THE ROVER AND GO EXPLORING.

  MARS

  Expedition File

  TO: ALL ASTRONAUTS

  FROM: COMMANDER WEN

  RE: MARS MISSION PREPARATION

  This Expedition File contains maps, diagrams, images, and some potentially life-saving information you should review before our trip to Mars. Of course, we all hope we will not encounter any of the emergencies described within, but if we do, you will be glad you read this.

  I look forward to our work together on this important and historic mission.

  Sincerely,

  Commander Wen

  CC: MISSION CONTROL

  FILE 1: Earth to mars trajectory

  Note

  Martian day: 24 hours and 39 minutes

  Martian year: 687 Earth days

  FILE 1: Earth to mars trajectory

  fire star

  MARS base 1

  your home on mars

  We will spend 1.5 Earth years on Mars, and this base will be your home. While living here, you will be working on a variety of projects to prepare the base for its first wave of permanent colonists.

  Job assignments will include:

  Construction

  Administrative tasks in central dome

  Greenhouse work (crops or livestock)

  Science lab work

  Robotics (engineering or maintenance)

  Frontier exploration

  We are aware that the frontier exploration assignments will be the most desirable, and we will try to ensure you each get one. However, we can’t guarantee this, as we have to put our mission priorities first. As you know, for this mission, construction and food source development are the two top priorities.

  FILE 3: terrain of mars

 
base 1 schematics

  MARS:

  An explorer’s guide

  We hope every astronaut will have a chance to take a sightseeing flight. Here’s what you might see.

  olympus mons

  This is the largest known volcano in our solar system. It’s three times as tall as Mount Everest— but its slope is so gradual, it doesn’t look very impressive when seen from the ground.

  Shaped like a thick pancake, Olympus Mons grew to its current size (about the same area as the state of Arizona) through a series of quiet eruptions with slowly flowing lava.

  Valles marineris

  Valles Marineris is a set of canyons that are deep enough to hold the Alps mountain range and long enough to stretch across the whole United States!

  The canyons began as big cracks that gradually grew wider. They were shaped by wind, water, and landslides.

  polar ice caps

  Like Earth, Mars has two polar ice caps. Mars’s ice caps are made of carbon dioxide ice, dust, and water ice.

  NOTE Mars looks reddish because its surface is made of iron-rich minerals that rust.

  Martian Robots

  and Transporters

  rovers

  Telerobots: These little robots are designed to drive slowly over the rocky Martian terrain. They are equipped with cameras, drills, microscopes, scanners that detect chemicals, and arms to pick up samples.

  Transport rovers: These rovers are large enough to carry human passengers in space suits.

  Pressurized transport rovers: The ultimate luxury in Martian land travel, these rovers have pressurized passenger compartments that allow humans to ride without space suits.

  fetchers

  These robots staff the warehouse. Every item in the warehouse is labeled with a barcode the fetcher can read. They can also respond to human commands. Just ask one to fetch you a bag of rice, and it will.

  planes

  These remote-controlled aircraft fly over the Martian terrain and take pictures. They are also equipped to carry with human passengers.

  displaying linked historical data:

  martian robot hall of fame

  Our fleet of rovers and robots are the descendents of these famous ancestors.

  pathfinder

  This rover (about the size of a microwave oven) was the first to roam around the Martian frontier. It arrived on Mars in 1997 and sent 550 images back to Earth.

  spirit and opportunity

  These twin rovers arrived on Mars in January 2004 and were so hardy, they lasted years longer than expected.

  How to Handle a

  Fire on a Spacecraft

  A fire on a spacecraft sounds like very bad news, and it is. If one breaks out, you’ll need to follow these steps, very fast.

  Smother it

  If the fire is small, smother it with one of the following:

  The thick flame-proof fire blanket provided in the emergency cabinet in each module.

  The foam-based fire extinguisher.

  Both of these deprive a fire of oxygen, so it should stop burning.

  Seal off and vent the module

  If the fire is large, evacuate and seal off the module. Then, as soon as possible, vent the module. This will remove all oxygen, so the fire will no longer have the fuel it needs to burn.

  Repressurize with care

  Inspect the module for heat-damaged areas that may require repair before the module is refilled with air. Otherwise, the high air pressure may cause a hole to burst in the wall.

  Survival Tips for Martians

  On the Frontier

  Travel in teams.

  Never travel alone on the Martian frontier. If your life-support equipment malfunctions, you’ll need backup.

  Carry extra fuel, oxygen, and water.

  To be safe, carry twice the amount you would need to get back to base.

  Use rover power.

  If you are stranded on the Martian frontier and your suit is running low on power, plug it into your rover.

  Carry signaling markers.

  These markers transmit their location to our satellites. You can use these to help search teams find you, if other equipment fails. Also use them to mark a discovery you would like to return to later.

  Note: If you discover something you believe is evidence of life on Mars, it’s best to mark it and leave it in place so scientists can explore its location in depth.

  On Base

  Know how to deploy backup power.

  There are windmills and solar cells in the warehouse. Use windmills only as a last resort, as wind is rarely strong enough on Mars to generate much power.

  How to Navigate at

  Night on Mars

  The stars you’ll see on Mars will look the same as the stars you see from Earth. This is because the stars are so far away from us that the distance from Earth to Mars is no big deal by comparison. The only thing that’s different is the process of finding north with the stars. Mars’s North Pole faces a different part of the sky than Earth’s North Pole does, so if you want to find north on Mars, you’ll need to follow these steps.

  1 Find the tail of the swan

  Find the constellation Cygnus the Swan, which looks like a cross. Its brightest star is its tail star, called Deneb (which means “the tail” in Arabic).

  2 Find the king’s brightest star

  Near Cygnus is the constellation Cepheus, which is named for a king. The brightest star in Cepheus is Alderamin (which means “the right arm” ).

  3 Find the middle point

  Find the point exactly halfway between Deneb and Alderamin. That spot in the sky is directly over the Martian North Pole, which means that direction is north. That also means that south is behind you, west is to your left, and east is to your right.

  Be Aware: Mars can be an extraordinarily dark place at night, as its two small moons don’t give off much light. Always carry a small light to help you avoid rocks and other hazards.

  How to Survive

  a Martian Dust Storm

  The best way to survive a Martian dust storm is to be inside the base when one happens. The only trouble is, no one knows how to predict these storms, so it’s very possible to get surprised by one. Here’s what to do if you’re out on the frontier when the dust starts swirling…

  Run for it

  You may be able to see a dust storm approaching—it’ll look like a billowing cloud on the horizon. If safe shelter is a short distance away, run for it. Or, better yet, hop into your rover and make fast tracks to base.

  If you can’t make it back to base…

  You’re going to have to find a good place to wait for the storm to blow over. Once the storm is upon you, visibility can drop to zero in a matter of seconds. That means it’s a bad idea to keep walking or driving. So, pull over and wait, or, better yet…

  Take shelter behind a rock

  Find yourself a rock to hide behind, the bigger the better. That way, you won’t get buried in sand.

  Be Aware: It’s a bad idea to hide at the base of a sand dune, because that pile of sand could get blown on top of you.

  Now what?

  The bad news is, the storm could last for weeks, or even months! If that happens, you’re going to have to hope for a lull that’s long enough for a pressurized rover to come out and rescue you.

  A severe Martian dust storm can shroud the entire planet in dust!

  About the Contributors

  AUTHOR Hena Khan loves the ultimate adventure of writing. She’s written many books for kids, including several about space. Her favorite space experience so far was watching the Shuttle Endeavor launch during a visit to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She lives in Rockville, Maryland.

  AUTHOR David Borgenicht is the co-author of all the books in the “Worst-Case Scenario” series. He lives in Philadelphia.