Transportation

A fuel sector dominated by methane vector

Transportation between the various human settlements on Mars is carried out by land, air or space vehicles. They generally draw their energy from the methanox sector (mixture of methane and oxygen), benefiting from a historic pooling of infrastructure and know-how with energy storage systems and methalox space propulsion. Certain City-States have developed alternative energy vectors based on solid fuels; aluminum-oxygen or magnesium-carbon dioxide (the latter being taken directly from the atmosphere), included in a regeneration cycle, in particular by solar oven. These latter sectors, however, remain in the minority due to the cost of generalizing the infrastructure.

A complete range of vehicles

Land vehicles are of all kinds. For the longest journeys, they have life support systems that make them more like large motorhomes than cars or trucks. They can be all-terrain, but most of them are built for travel on the flat surface of the Meridian Way. In order to maximize safety, vehicles often run in convoys with departures at fixed times. Point-to-point space travel between distant cities on Mars is common. This type of transport is generally carried out by interplanetary vehicles, which are not used between each launch window. The transport companies prefer to operate them in the meantime, and sell a ticket at a reduced price, the vehicle already being amortized by the sale of interplanetary journeys. The recent demand for orbital mirrors for the Surya development has put a strain on this infrastructure. There are a few specialized suborbital vehicles reserved for institutional applications - for example the Mars Planetary Rescue Force, with hoppers in each city, able to intervene on the whole planet in less than an hour.

Low intensity planetary transport

Because of the doctrine of self reliance and autonomy favored by the Martian city states, these are usually not very specialized, which limits the exchange of products and therefore transportation. Most of the transport is intended for the youngest and less autonomous settlements, generally small mining villages. In addition, many prospecting or scientific expeditions criss-cross Mars regularly. The movements of people between City-States are also rather limited. The lower costs of transport between locations on Mars, as well as the absence of constraints linked to the launch window between Earth and Mars every two years, in principle make it possible to offer golden bridges to the best professionals of another city. However, rigorous management of human resources and skills is a key point of the long-term survival strategy of each City-State, leading to administrative obstacles and a kind of self-restraint by recruiters.

Tourism, an important user of transportation

Tourism occupies a large place in the local economy. Indeed, Mars is not stingy with natural splendors - who has not dreamed of seeing the sunrise from inside a pressurized chalet built at the edge of the caldera at the top of Olympus Mons ? Some major architectural works are counted among the Wonders of the Solar System, among which Foundation offers the Tower of Arkadia and the Botanical Garden of Surya. Tourism is the business of the Martians themselves, but also that of many Earthlings. Some of them are wealthy tourists who have come for two years, usually on a mixed business and leisure trip, and others are retirees who have saved their whole life for this purpose, Mars adds to its marvels the effectsof a reduced gravity, than can be beneficial for many cases, with the proper medical supervision. Tourism is not only the affair of the rich; many lotteries on Earth offer prizes of Mars expeditions. These draws are very popular, to the point of occupying today nearly a third of the world market for games of chance on Earth. Some commentators welcome the fact that this sector is being used for a more constructive purpose, namely the greening of Mars. We will not blame them.

Marspedia references: Surface vehicles - Methane

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