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July 23, 2020October 21, 2020

Origins of Science Fiction

How did science fiction begin?

As long as humans have been capable of abstract thought, we’ve envisaged the future. What’s coming for us? How will we be different? Where might we go? What might we explore? Through this, different people have begun to prophesise, dream, and write about what this future might look like. That includes the different places we, as the human race, will visit, the other lifeforms that we’ll interact with, and how we’ll get to those places. This is where science fiction comes into play.

There’s the realm of science that attempts to hypothesise using facts, data, and historical information. This belongs to actual science and forecasting models. That is not of our concern today. Instead, we’re going to explore those who let their imaginations run wild. Those who might have been inspired by things they’d seen on Earth and imagined what those might be like on other planets. Those who looked at the sky and wondered what might be… then made it up. This is the realm of science fiction.

In order to explore science fiction, we’ll look into those most prolific of writers from recent history including H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Ray Bradbury, Kim Stanley Robinson, and James S. A. Corey.

H. G. Wells

A personal favourite, H. G. Wells was the author of one of the original and greatest works of science fiction ever created, The War of the Worlds. Alongside Jules Verne, he is considered to be the father of science fiction as a genre. Whilst War of the Worlds (written in 1898) is, arguably, his most famous work, he also penned classics such as; The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), and The Invisible Man (1897).

Our favourite H. G. Wells fact? When a version of The War of the Worlds was dramatised for radio in 1938 mass public panic ensued when listeners didn’t realise they were listening to a work of fiction and genuinely thought Earth was being invaded by Martians!

Jules Verne

Jules Verne is another of the world’s great writers, responsible for works such as Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873). Whilst the latter isn’t technically a work in science fiction, the other two greats were entirely science fiction even if they were Earthbound. Verne was a master of crafting fictional pieces of technology that inspired generations of science fiction readers.

Interesting Verne fact: he’s still the second-most translated author of all time.

Ray Bradbury

Most famous for his work Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury also penned many more pieces of work, including The Martian Chronicles. This science fiction short story fixup depicts the human race fleeing a dying Earth after war and atom bombs have devastated the planet and their colonisation efforts on the red planet. Bradbury goes into great detail regarding cultural clashes between the Martians who live there and the Earthlings who make their new home on already claimed land and takes on poignant topics such as colonisation, terraforming, racism, and sexism.

Kim Stanley Robinson

Having published no fewer than 19 novels that have been translated into at least 24 languages, Robinson is most famous for The Mars Trilogy. We’re particularly fond of Robinson for his works based around the possibility of terraforming other worlds (namely Mars). His trilogy offers viewpoints from that of colonists and gives great insight into what it might be like to live on a terraformed world. Thankfully, he tends to show this in a prosperous utopian light.

James S. A. Corey

Not one, but two authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Using the pen name James S. A. Corey, the pair have written an extensive series called The Expanse. Their works are rapidly expanding, and they are regularly writing for great works of science fiction including the Star Wars universe and have collaborated with George R R Martin on other works. As far as modern day science fiction writers go, we strongly recommend checking out James S. A. Corey.

The Origins of Science Fiction

From humble beginnings in the late 1800s to modern day, science fiction will remain part of our lives forever. As long as there are places to discover, worlds to explore, and technology to create, the human mind will imagine and soar. Here’s to that!

July 21, 2020July 16, 2020

Extra-Terrestrial Options: Is Venus Better to Terraform Than Mars?

Should we look to Venus for our best terraforming opportunity?

Humans have always looked to the red planet when they’ve dreamt of leaving Earth, but could Venus be a better choice to terraform than Mars? The two planets are worlds apart (excuse the pun) and the experiences would be wildly different for the inhabitants, but there are definite advantages to heading to Venus instead. Let’s take a look at how the two planets stack up.

Venus is considerably closer than Mars

It might sound like a bit of a technicality when such huge distances are involved, but Venus is considerably closer to Earth than Mars. We’re talking 14 million kilometers closer which would save between 30% to 50% travel time, making an enormous difference when shuttling supplies and people back and forth. No one wants to spend unnecessary days in transit every time they need to move between planets after all. It would also save a fortune in fuel, so it’s win-win really!

You can get a nice sun tan

This one might be a bit tongue in cheek as you definitely wouldn’t want to bask in a bikini outside in these parts, but Venus’s proximity to the sun would actually be a bonus when it comes to harnessing solar energy. Being able to use solar energy to provide power would be a big advantage, and Venus would offer a much better opportunity for this than Mars would.

Added to this, the atmosphere on Venus is much more substantial, which would cut down on the amount of harmful radiation that made it to areas inhabited by humans. Mars wouldn’t offer us quite so much protection, and that would be a real concern for long-term habitation.

Humans don’t have to defy gravity on Venus

Bouncing around in a weightless environment sounds like awesome fun, and it’s certainly entertaining watching footage of astronauts enjoying it on Mars, but would you really want to live like that all the time? Probably not. You want something a bit more down-to-earth, as it were!

Venus’s gravity is very similar to Earth’s, meaning that the human body is already adjusted to the conditions. This would become important for permanent residents who would need to maintain bone density for health, and is another plus for Venus.

There’s an interesting atmosphere on Venus

And we don’t just mean the experience of hanging out there. The combination of atmospheric gases is interesting in its own right! Venus boasts a complex mix of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid, with some nitrogen thrown in for good measure. The CO2 component is important as it would allow harvesting of oxygen for terraformers, and seeing as all habitation would happen suspended up in that atmosphere, there would be easy access to the gases.

Wait, we would live above the ground?

For all its advantages, Venus is by nature an inhospitable place at ground level. With a surface temperature of over 450 degrees Celsius, we humans would have to do a bit of adaptation before we can walk on the surface! However, a network of suspended dirigibles and air barges would be perfectly suited to making the most of what the planet has to offer, and this shouldn’t stop a terraforming effort on Venus compared to Mars.

Is Venus is a more tantalizing terraforming candidate than Mars?

In the Venus vs Mars battle, Venus offers some interesting options on many criteria. It’s our nearest neighbor and our sister planet in size. Instead of restricting our terraforming ambitions just to the red planet, we should dream bigger. Venus all the way!

July 9, 2020July 7, 2020

The History of How We Think of Venus

Everything you need to know about the history of Earth’s mysterious neighbour.

From being viewed as two distinct stars, to a planet inhabited by “Venusians”, to being considered the second planet Earth, human perception of Venus has evolved through the ages.

Named after the Roman goddess of love, likely due to its bright appearance, Venus has sat quietly in the sky while we make our own assumptions as to what it might contain and represent. Only through recent scientific developments have we been able to bring some clarity to what our neighbouring planet is and isn’t.

Ancient civilisations used to believe that Venus was two distinct stars

Due to its proximity to the sun, the illusion created by sunlight fooled the ancient Greeks and Egyptians into believing that Venus was actually two separate stars, visible at sunrise and sunset. These were named the morning and evening star respectively, and became the subject of worship for generations. The disproportionately brighter light given from Venus even earnt itself a mention in the Bible, being compared to Jesus himself. It took a few hundred years before the Greeks realised that Venus was a single object moving within Earth’s orbit, in what must have been a sobering moment for all involved.

UFO spotters believe that aliens belonged to Venus

In ‘ufology’, the study of extraterrestrial life, it became very convenient to ascribe aliens to Earth’s closest neighbour. Going as far back as the 1950s, alien sightings were claimed to be of “Venusians” who had arrived on planet earth to make contact with humans. While most of the photo and video evidence was investigated and debunked, this hasn’t stopped the fanatical imagination with Venusian life, and conspiracies can still be found in blogs and videos via a quick internet search.

The idea of Venusians has also made its way into science fiction movies and comics, showing that they are not only a hit with theorists, but with the entertainment industry too.

Some people believe that Venus may be Hell itself

The mystery of the unknown gives license for the imaginative mind to wonder. None more so than Dr Michael Santini, a former aerospace engineer who wrote a book detailing how Venus is the physical embodiment of hell itself. While the ancient Greeks had beliefs concerning the physical existence of religious places, Dr Santini’s book demonstrates that similar opinions still exist in society today, despite advances in astronomy.

People believe that Venus used to be another planet Earth

These days, due to the wonders of 21st century science, we can be more sure of what Venus is, as well as what it could have been in the past.

It’s boiling hot. 900 degrees Fahrenheit, to be exact. It also has 92 times the pressure of Earth, its atmosphere a veritable blanket of sulfuric acid which clouds its visibility. Thanks to this, the planet is difficult to examine and has therefore been able to maintain a degree of mystique.

Scientists believe that Venus used to boast a cooler climate, similar to that on Earth. This has led to speculation that Venus is presenting us with an insight into the fate of our own planet, as climate change takes hold. While conditions on our sister planet would certainly not be able to support life as we know it, there has been evidence that bacteria could be living in the clouds, where the atmosphere is cooler.

When will we know for sure?

As we can see, the beliefs and discoveries we make about Venus are ever changing. From scientific discoveries to new theories based on faith and opinion, the mystery behind Earth’s sister planet means it will always be a playground for the imagination.

July 7, 2020October 21, 2020

The History of How We Think of Mars

From canals to Martians, we take a look at the history of the Red Planet.

It’s easy to pass cheap judgement on the brilliant minds of the past when we explore the history of Mars. But you might be forgiven for believing in Martians when you are viewing the planet from more than 50 million km away through the world’s first telescope. What we know about our dusty red neighbour has increased parallel to developments in astronomy and space technology, and we are still making new findings to this day.

The first recorded observations of Mars were around 400BC

And you won’t be surprised to hear that in those times not a lot could be said for Mars. It was known simply as a fiery red colour in the sky. As was typical during this time, the Greeks decided to give this coloured dot a name. They chose the name Ares, after their god of war. The Romans preferred the name Mars, after their own warmongering deity, and the name stuck.

Galileo was the first person to see Mars through a telescope

The father of observational astronomy, Galileo Galilei, was the first to magnify the image of Mars via telescope in 1609. By the end of the same century, ideas about extraterrestrial life on Mars are considered for the first time. Fast forward to the end of the 18th century and, through advances in telescopic technology, the vital statistics for Mars had been uncovered. Most notably, its distance being 54 million km from Earth, its day being 39 minutes longer than Earth’s, and its two neighbouring moons. During this time, Sir William Herschel also concluded that not only do aliens live on Mars, but also the sun. Clearly, further investigation was still required.

A simple translation error sparks Martian mania

In 1877 Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli described the lines he could see on Mars through his telescope as “canali”, which translates to “channels” in English. ‘Canali’ was misinterpreted to mean canal by American astronomer Percival Lowell. Considering canals to be a man/alien made entity, Lowell dedicated his life’s work to publishing books which suggested that Martians had been busy constructing a complex water supply system on Mars. As a result, Martian mania was born.

Adding fuel to the fire, a young Orson Welles produced a radio adapted version of “The War of The Worlds”. Presented in storytelling format, the broadcast unintentionally beguiled New York listeners into fleeing their homes, in the belief they were under attack from the inhabitants of Mars.

The world of media got wind of the fascination with Mars, and the idea of Martians gave inspiration for comics, movies and music. Rest in peace, David Bowie.

It took until 1965 to debunk the existence of Martians

In a blunt and conclusive manner, the NASA-launched Mariner 4 space probe broadcasted to Earth images of a dusty barren wasteland. There was a collective groan from the conspiracy theorist community, and Martian mania was as good as over.

While the fantasists amongst us felt disappointment, others saw an opportunity for a new home for humanity. Curiosity, the NASA space rover, was sent to Mars in 2012 to inspect whether its conditions would be suitable for supporting life on the Red Planet. While we have proven the lack of water on the surface of Mars, there remains hope that dormant life may be present beneath the surface. That is all we need for our imaginations to run wild!

June 30, 2020October 21, 2020

Phobos and Deimos: Two Little Martian Potatoes

This is the story behind the doomed neighbours of the red planet

Ok, they’re considerably bigger than the potatoes that you might find in your local supermarket. But, if you magnified those potatoes you would have the perfect comparison for the two moons, Phobos and Deimos, that circle the dusty red planet in our solar system. This article will explore exactly how far we have come in our exploration of these distant little moons.

Phobos and Deimos are tiny moons in comparison to our own moon

23km and 6km wide respectively, to be exact, with a gravitational pull not even strong enough to give them a spherical form. For this reason, they have a potato-like appearance. It is believed that they were once part of the asteroid belt, until they were kicked out by the gravity of Jupiter and towards the orbit of Mars.

The two little potato-shaped moons were discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. We might have thought that by this time the Romans and Greeks would have little influence over the name of the colourful objects in our sky, but Hall decided, in tribute, to name them Phobos and Deimos, after the sons of the Greek god of war.

The doomed moons of Mars

Phobos is closer to Mars than Deimos and is making its way towards the planet at a rate of 2 meters per year. Not something to worry about for now, but in 50 to 100 million years it may crash into Mars. This would destroy any life that may come to exist on the planet during that time. There is however, a chance that the gravitational pull of Mars could rip Phobos into millions of pieces. You could consider this to be a natural defence by the planet. There is evidence of debris impact on Phobos.

Less than 6000 miles from Mars, it is believed that explosions on the red planet have thrown debris into the sky. This caused craters and avalanches to form in the moon’s surface. Not content with being a lifeless wasteland, the red planet seems intent on destroying anything that comes too close.

Unlike Phobos, Deimos is slowly saying farewell to Mars. The smaller of the two moons, Deimos will leave Mars within the next few hundred million years. Once it has been cast off into space, Mars will go from a planet with two moons to a planet with none. Maybe that’s what happens when a planet takes its moons for granted.

Will we ever visit Phobos and Deimos?

The two seemingly insignificant and unimpressive moons actually contain important information for us on planet Earth. Confirming exactly how the potatoes formed will allow us to understand how planets formed around our sun. Not least, it will solve one of the more enduring mysteries to the planetary science committee.

There have been attempts to explore the moons of Mars already. In 2011, two spacecraft were sent by Russia, but failed miserably in their mission. One of them became stuck in Earth’s orbit and crashed back down onto home soil.

The Mars Moons eXploration mission of 2024 aims to visit the two moons in order to collect samples that will be returned to earth. Perhaps then, we can discover exactly where these two little potatoes originated from. Until that happens, the misshapen moons remain unknown and mysterious in our magnificent solar system.

June 25, 2020July 7, 2020

Planets and Their Moons: New Moon Rising

Ever wondered about all the different moons surrounding nearby planets?

Our solar system is home to 8 major planets (sorry Pluto, we’re still hurting too) but that’s not all. The vast majority of these celestial bodies have their own moons as well. That’s right, we’re not special. Sure, we named our moon, The Moon, but that term simply means an object that is in permanent orbit around a planet.

That’s right. We’re not special. In fact, we’re relatively unusual in the fact that we have only 1 moon. So, in order to put ourselves in our place, let’s have a look at each planet and see what their moons have to say for themselves.

Mercury

That’s right, this is going to be in a logical order or distance from the sun.

Mercury has no moons. Sadly Mercury is just too close to the sun to be able to hold a moon. Sad times for Mercury.

Venus

Once again, no moons. We’re starting to not believe that Earth actually isn’t special at this point.

It is believed that Venus did, once, have a moon but that it collided either into Venus itself or a passing body.

Earth

1 moon. Also known, somewhat arrogantly, as The Moon. Previously thought to be home to The Man in The Moon and often referred to as being made of cheese. Thankfully these — frankly horrifying — concepts have been debunked. We’re all hoping Mr. Musk and NASA gang up soon and get mankind back onto the surface ASAP.

Mars

2 moons! Deimos and Phobos. Theorized amongst astronomers as potentially just being slightly larger asteroids that got caught up on Mars’ gravitational force.

Jupiter

Ok, now we’re talking. As we get into the first of the gas giants the number of moons begins to dramatically increase. Jupiter has at least 79 moons! That is quite the flex on those smaller planets within the asteroid belt!

For the purpose of this piece we won’t list every single moon, rather focus on the big 4 which are visible with the naked eye under dark sky conditions. The big 4 are Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa. Because of their relatively larger size, these 4 have been considered by terraforming theorists as potential settlement bases.

Saturn

Slightly less than Jupiter but still a huge number of moons, Saturn has 62 moons in orbit. Once again, there are 4 moons visible to the naked eye. Titan, Rhea, Iapetus, and Dione.

Special mention goes to the relatively newly photographed Mimas. Mimas is an especially brilliant moon because it has a giant impact crater (called Herschel) on its northern hemisphere which makes it look exactly like the Deathstar from Star Wars. This was first spotted by Cassini back in 2010, and likely gave the observers something of a shock.

Uranus

27 moons here for Uranus. Obvious moon-ing jokes aside, there are 4 noticeably larger moons as with the other gas giants, but these aren’t visible to the naked eye. You’ll need at least an 8-10 inch telescope to see them. Titania , Oberon, Umbriel and Ariel are the largest. Another 4 bodies that have been considered for terraforming.

Neptune

The number reduces again, seemingly in conjunction with the further we get from the Sun, as Neptune rings in only 14 moons. Triton is the only moon of note, which is actually large enough to be considered a dwarf planet. In fact, astronomers believe it may have been captured after ejection from the Kuiper Belt.

Bonus – Pluto

Ok, we still feel bad, so Pluto makes the list. Even if we didn’t feel bad, there’s some merit to adding in Pluto, a dwarf planet stripped of its place in our Solar System, as it has not 1, not 2 but 5 moons! Sure, they’re so small and far away that they can’t be seen using any amateur telescope but that’s still impressive. One of the moons, Charon, is actually considered a dwarf planet itself and part of Pluto’s binary system… which calls into question – is Charon Pluto’s moon, or is Pluto Charon’s moon? The plot thickens…

…we still heart you, Pluto.

June 16, 2020July 7, 2020

How old am I on different planets?

Learn how to calculate your age on different planets.

How old are you right now? That age is going to be fairly integral to who you are as a person and how you identify yourself. They say that age is just a number; indeed, that number is completely different depending upon which planet you reside.

Sure, you might spend your entire life standing only on Earth, but as more and more people become terraformers and settlers of different planets, their ages will become more and more varied. In fact, you might have children older than you and grandparents that are younger! This is especially true if you’re all spread across the whole solar system.

Physically, your body will have spent the same amount of time existing — that’s a constant. But if you calculate your age based on days, or rotations of your planet’s axis, then you’ll find that the number is very different depending on where you call home. The same goes for if you calculate your age in years or the time it takes for your planet to revolve once around the Sun.

Because of this, it’s worth referring to your age in Earth years or Earth days. If we move or were to live on another planet within our solar system, our ages would be completely different. This is down to the amount of time that it takes for the planet to orbit the sun and for each planet to revolve on its axis.

In order to calculate your age on different planets, there’s a specific calculation that you can complete. Thankfully, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to make these calculations. First, we calculate our age in days on Earth. Let’s say, for instance, that you’re exactly 25 years old — that’s 9,125 days. You’ll then take this information and put it into a new formula dependent on which planet you’d like to live on.

Here’s a handy table with the formulas in place:

Planet	Orbit time	Age Formula
Mercury	88 Days	Earth Days / 88
Venus	225 Days	Earth Days / 225
Mars	687 Days	Earth Days / 687
Jupiter	11.8 Years	Earth Days / 4,307
Saturn	29.4 Years	Earth Days / 10,731
Uranus	84 Years	Earth Days / 30,660
Neptune	164 Years	Earth Days / 59,860
Pluto	248 Years	Earth Days / 90,520

Let’s take a group of people on Earth: Penny, Rich and Hayley. Penny is 35, Rich is 42 and Hayley is 56. Through a program of terraforming and planetary exploration, each of them have been posted to different parts of the solar system. Penny has been sent to Neptune, Rich to Mars, and Hayley to Mercury. Based on their new planets their new ages are now:

Penny (Earth Age 35): Neptune Age – 0.21 Years Old; a mere baby.

Rich (Earth Age 42): Mars Age – 22.31 Years Old; nearly 20 years younger.

Hayley (Earth Age 56): Mercury Age – 232.27 Years Old; well over two centuries old!

As you can see, heading for other planets will have a severe aging process… well, only in number. Physically, you’ll still be as old as you were on Earth.

How old are you on your favourite extra-terrestrial world?

June 11, 2020July 7, 2020

How long are days on the different planets?

Does the length of a day change on each planet?

When it comes to exploring the solar system, there’s a reason that the amount of time spent in space is calculated in hours rather than days. That’s due to the reason that our measurement of time is directly related to our position on Earth and its relation to the Sun. A day on our planet is very different to a day on another planet.

If you’re here for the “too long, didn’t read” answer, then the table below will be helpful. We’ve put together the amount of hours that a day lasts on each planet. That is how long it takes for a complete rotation on the planet’s axis to complete.

Planet	Hours to complete axis rotation (A Day)
Mercury	1,408 hours
Venus	5,832 hours
Earth	24 hours
Mars	25 hours
Jupiter	10 hours
Saturn	11 hours
Uranus	17 hours
Neptune	16 hours

The table might come as something of a surprise. It would be natural to assume that the length of days might increase or decrease depending on distance from the Sun but it appears that it is composition that has a major impact on day length. The gas giants clearly spin at an incredible rate compared to the smaller, solid based planets of Earth and Mars.

It’s also worth noting that the orbits of the planets aren’t perfectly circular and, in fact, Earth’s own elliptical orbit means that some days are shorter than others. Therefore, the best way to measure the length of a day is to use a measurement called sidereal days, or the amount of time it actually takes to complete a whole rotation. On Earth, that’s 23 hours and 56 minutes, rounded to 24 hours to make for easier time calculations.

Notable differences in days

Some of the planets rotations and orbits throw some interesting facts our way. Take Mercury, for instance — if the human race was able to successfully terraform the planet and create a sustainable settlement, day/night would have to become an artificial concept. In fact, over the course of one Mercurian day (sunrise and sunset), there would have been 2 Mercurian years (rotations around the sun).

Similar can be said for Venus, where the length of a day is longer than a year (by 18 days). Factor in Venus’ reverse rotation (compared to Earth) and those living in terraformed settlements would see only 2 sunrises each year — which would also happen with the sun rising in the west and setting in the east.

Looking for further unusual days and years, Uranus tops the class. Thanks to its tipped axis, only one part of the planet is pointed at the Sun over the course of each year. That means that the length of a day on the planet is matched with the length of a season. Terraformers would spend each “day” in a different season, making particularly interesting temperature challenges.

Each of the planets produce interesting and complex challenges when it comes to managing days, nights, seasons and years. It’s these challenges that terraformers will have to cope with when settling our solar system.

May 28, 2020July 7, 2020

The Science of TerraGenesis: Sky Farms

Tech Dive: New Age Sky Farms

When it comes to colonizing and terraforming a new planet, those that are carrying out the heavy lifting and leg work need to eat. The land, especially that of Mars and beyond, might not be suitable for farming, and it might not be suitable for a long time to come. That’s where the Sky Farms of TerraGenesis come in.

The strain put on an ecosystem is at it’s peak when civilizations look to support the people within it. This has to become priority number one. Well, once you have breathable air and water… ok so maybe priority number 3… and then there’s the heat levels… and radiation. Well, no-one said that terraforming would be easy did they?!

Supporting the human population of a colony isn’t straight forward. However, thanks to incredible scientific advances in both hydroponics and zero-G biology the human race is able to look beyond the ground when it comes to growing crops.

Hydroponics and Sky Farms

Hydroponics enable farmers and scientists to harvest nutrients from water and a mineral solution rather than soil, allowing plants to grow in different environments than previously thought possible. Not only that, the water usage is incredibly decreased. Consider that in traditional farming it takes nearly 400 liters of water to grow just 1kg of tomatoes. When using hydroponics this number is drastically reduced to a mere 70 liters of water. This research was initially powered by those in NASA but has been grasped by the various factions of TerraGenesis in their terraforming missions.

Zero-G Farming

The International Space Station provided a great platform for researchers to understand how zero-g conditions affected plant growth, in the same way that it affects human life. Zero-g farming isn’t just about the lack of gravity either. Plants have a hard time in space, especially due to the lack of sunlight, which they need for fuel through photosynthesis. Artificial lighting can replace this, but to maximize efficiency specially designed LEDs need to be used.

As an interesting aside, research into sky farms allowed scientists to uncover a unique device that’s function takes ethylene and converts it into CO2 (carbon dioxide) and water. This could be spectacularly important for lengthy journeys into space.

In order to facilitate the colonisation of a whole planet, or even just a colony for starters, terraformers will need a vast network of these sky farms in orbit. The resource cost might be high, but what price can be put on a well fed workforce?

Sky farms will become incredibly useful during times when water on the surface of the planet isn’t accessible (as it’s frozen) or isn’t available at all. At least for those in the initial terraforming missions, sky farms might well be the only access that they have to get fresh produce in the dark, forbidding world that they’re looking to inhabit.

May 27, 2020July 7, 2020

The Science of TerraGenesis: Orbital Surveyor

Searching out new resources with the orbital surveyor.

Selecting a new colony site isn’t as easy as looking out of the window of your ship and picking a spot at random. There is a whole lot more to it than that. Getting onto the surface of a planet or celestial body to see whether a spot is useful for a colony is both a costly and potentially dangerous mission. Therefore, scientists have developed the orbital surveyor. The terraformer’s way of surveying from a distance.

In order to find the perfect site there are a number of factors that need to meet a set criteria:

The land needs to be large enough to support the colony
It needs to be flat enough for structures to be built
There need to be sufficient natural resources nearby
There needs to be room for expansion as the colony grows

And that’s just for a start. The list goes on. The orbital surveyor, thankfully, delivers reams and reams of information based intricate readings taken through scans of the planet. These scans are carried out by a satellite that maps, graphs and details the surface and below.

Note that it’s not just the topography that is measured but, through powerful laser, UV and newly discovered technology, what lies beneath the surface can be discovered too. That means that valuable natural resources ranging from potential water sources to precious metals and fuel can be surveyed. That means that the guesswork is taken away from mining. It means that terraformers can all but guarantee they’re digging in the right spot to harness what lies beneath.

Terraforming isn’t cheap work, digging for raw materials and precious metals allows factions to create a steady stream of credits to enable purchases of more and more impressive technologies. That makes the positioning of your mines all the more important. Position it over an empty patch of ground and you’ll be digging for nothing, pick the right site, using the orbital surveyor and you’ll be digging in paydirt before you know it.

The orbital surveyor isn’t just a useful resource for mining processes but also useful for understanding how the world that you’re terraforming will change and alter as the terraforming process moves forward. Increases in heat and radiation might lead to the melting of ice caps. That melting will lead to rising sea levels. If you’ve not checked the height of your settlement or outpost correctly using the orbital surveyor then you could be in hot water (literally) before you know it.

The orbital surveyor will be one of the first tools that you’ll use in your terraforming arsenal, but it certainly won’t be the last. Master this tool and you’ll be building suitable, safe outposts and fruitful, functioning mines.