User:BaconShelf/Mars

Mars!

Early exploration and settlement

 * Early probes throughout the 90s/00s
 * First human on Mars in the 2010s-20s
 * Initial pioneer group on the planet, there for a few weeks before returning to Earth
 * Sporadic pioneer groups of less than 20 people sporadically go to the red planet over the 20s, gathering data and whatnot

Martian Gold Rush

 * In 2027, Earther billionaire announces discovery of a native Martian microorganism
 * Spurs on a massive rush of industry and interest in Mars, with trillions spend on building necessary space infrastructure. Small dig sites and stations are built on and around the planet to find more life (these are temporary stations with no permanent intention of habitation - think oil rigs)
 * In 2041 the Martian life form is proven without doubt to be a form of genetically engineered Earth life, a scam by the billionaire to kick up interest in his space industries for mad cash
 * The previous 15 years of "gold rush" style claimants of the planet have seen a myriad of settlements pop up across the planet with little in the way of interest or organisation
 * Small nonviolent clashes over land rights on the planet become an issue
 * Following the announcement of no Martian life, Martian interests see a massive fall in investment and worries arise about future development of the planet
 * First big colony (multinational effort?) at Arsia Mons founded on May 1, 2046.
 * A lot of first-wave colonists are Chinese, though there are major American and European (mostly corporate) colonies
 * From early on, a lot of large-scale habitation starts to center around Tharsis and the Mariner Valley; Argyre and Hellas are two other hotspots, while mining and industrial operations pop up all over the planet.
 * Second American Civil War (c. 2080s) possibly results in a large nuclear scare? Many of the rich and powerful buy the now-cheap space infrastructure to invest in offworld "apocalypse bunkers"

Rogue bacteria and Martian national identity

 * Previous-mentioned microorganisms begin to coat Mars' surface (contribute to low-level terraforming?), screwing over all chance for proper study
 * Corporate exploitation
 * Ice asteroid drop(s)
 * Early conflicts between colonies and Earth states / corporations; some colonies declare themselves independent already by the 2110s-20s, albeit still fairly tied to Earth, while Earth deals with own issues (ecological troubles & NATO-China war)
 * Free Mars movement
 * Intra-colony conflicts
 * Martian plague due to runaway gengineered bacteria instills in the Martians a cultural germophobia
 * Martian "Reds"
 * Significant worker migration from destitute Earth regions in the second colonization wave (c. 2080s-2100s). Vladimir Koslov enters the picture here.
 * Southeast Asian / Filipino-driven colonization wave in the early 2100s (influence around e.g. Argyre Planitia). Indian settlers around the same time.
 * ZGene crisis hits in 2132
 * Formation of the Koslovics ideology in Mars' emerging academic scene, through to the interplanetary wars
 * Large portions of Mars were always a bit red-leaning (e.g. there was a lot of cooperative entrepreneurship and communal living etc), but not as extreme as the Koslovics would end up being.
 * Rising tensions between Martian populace / labor movements and corporations in the 2130s-40s
 * Martian Combine?
 * Vladimir Koslov is active c. early 2100s to the 2040s, when he becomes a martyr and basically the Koslovics' Lenin figure. This is also when the Koslovic faction really takes off, when it has previously been just one movement among several others.
 * By the 2050s, the Koslovics have graduated from a rebel group into a revolutionary government. After failed off-planet interventions in earlier decades and due to limited capacity to send large amounts of forces to other planets, Earth's policy is mostly one of appeasement, though the tensions lead to increased militarization. By the late 2150s, the whole situation is a powder keg waiting to blow.
 * An incident (ice asteroid / terrorism on Earth?), along with the rising tensions, sparks the first UNSC response in 2163.

Post-Interplanetary War

 * Labor law reforms under the UEG placate the Martian workers' unions for the most part and mostly remove the Koslovics' power base
 * Traxus crash disables Martian planetary net in 2207, recovery takes years. Famine, poverty and riots in the aftermath. Unrest brews on Mars in the early 23rd century and the UNSC military is used to put down a local rebellion (MIDA reference?). Martians become AI-averse.
 * Martian recovery and economic & population boom (investments, new settlers, etc) - new beginnings of an industrial powerhouse beginning in the 2250s

Terraforming

 * In the technological revolutions that characterized the 2300s, the Martians pioneered the later widely utilized concept of crater terraforming or local terraforming, where an artificial atmosphere is maintained within a localized pseudo-magnetosphere in a partly enclosed area, such as a crater or canyon. While Earth's most crowded regions were prioritized for the first wave, Mars saw something of an outward exodus since the 2360s. Its population had enough of a common identity and incentives to stay (e.g. industry) to keep the colony going even as more earthlike worlds became available. But its growth did slow down since. However, Mars-based corporations managed to put its innovations in the field of terraforming to uses on extrasolar worlds, which coupled with Mars' strong industrial sector kept it relevant and prevented the ongoing brain drain to the new colonies from devastating Mars' economy. UEG incentives (possibly due to aggressive lobbying by Martian corporations within the UEG) may have played a part in this as well.
 * Mars is never "fully" terraformed. By the 25th century, there is a breathable atmosphere, albeit one that has to be actively maintained by an artificial magnetosphere, without which the solar wind would strip the atmosphere off in a couple of centuries. On the highlands and taller mountains, the atmosphere starts being quite tenuous and there is barely any air atop Olympus Mons, for example.
 * Large portions of the planet are now green with algae, grasses, shrublands and other small vegetation. There are even trees in the lushest places, mostly concentrated on Valles Marineris and a few of the larger craters like Argyre and Hellas, both of which are some of the greenest areas of Mars.
 * There was a strong initiative to terraform Mars more drastically, but the population could never decide on it (there were disparate factions among the settlers, with colonies that had most to lose generally being opposed to destructive terraforming means) before the idea was rendered obsolete by slipspace travel.
 * There are still underground cities on Mars, though many of these have opened up parts of themselves to the exterior since the creation of the artificial atmosphere.
 * Major urban centers and industrial facilities have had artificial gravity plating installed since the 25th century. There were early attempts at the same in the 23rd century, but these could never be made to work safely and economically.

Culture

 * Areocentrism: the belief that Mars, not Earth, is or should be humanity's cultural and political heart. Especially prominent in the 23rd-24th centuries, has waned since as the SolCore worlds have grown closer together and Mars' standing as an industrial hub has solidified itself.
 * Areophilia: love of Mars and all things Martian, usually by outsiders. C.f. Martiaboos.

Points of interest

 * Mare Erythraeum, Tharsis Plateau, Xanthe Terra and Syrtis Major Planum are major industrial centers
 * Ship graveyard(s) / Shipbreaking facilities (Daedalia / Sinai / Icaria?)
 * Reyes-McLees shipyards build some ships (up to frigate-sized?) or components on the surface and launch them into space using giant track-style mass drivers built into the sides of the Tharsis Montes? Recently, the development of antigravity tech has reduced the need for this, though even by the late 26th century antigravity is only used in a secondary role, allowing larger ships to be launched.
 * Tharsis heavy-lift array: A collection of heavy-duty space elevators built into the Tharsis Montes, largely used for industrial purposes.
 * Chiron: Chiron is a centaur, towed into Mars' orbit sometime in the 22nd century by a long-gone corporation and hollowed out as a depot and docking facility. However, the station was later abandoned and fell into disrepair, and was used on-and-off as a Marine and Naval Special Warfare training ground for several decades. During the Insurrection, parts of it were claimed by ONI and the focus of its training facilities shifted strictly to special forces. As well, parts of the station were cordoned off for classified projects. In the 2570s, Chiron comes to house early experiments with teleportation?
 * Deimos: After plans to convert the moon into a massive intrasolar cargo transport or a slower-than-light colony ship fell through, Deimos was turned into the orbital counterweight for the Tharsis industrial heavy-lift array.
 * Phobos: For centuries, Phobos has served as the "gateway" to Mars and the planet's primary orbital port. The moon is hollowed out and almost entirely built up.