Thursday, December 26, 2019

Martian colonies in season 4 of The Expanse

Although Mars is one of the three competing powers in universe of The Expanse TV series (a political sci-fi detective set a few centuries in the future where humans have colonized the entire Solar system) only a few scenes were actually set on Mars in first three seasons of the series. That changes in season 4 where the life on Mars at last gets proper depiction.

In The Expanse Mars, governed by Martian Congressional Republic, is a militaristic and technologically advanced society of over nine billion inhabitants. It is the major competitor of Earth & Luna, governed by United Nations. Earth, dragged down by overpopulation and climate change, envies Mars because of its society's high mobilization towards the shared goal of terraforming Mars. But in season 4 that shared goal and order of the Martian society is starting to erode as the new habitable planets beyond the rings are discovered (without the costly need of being terraformed as Mars does). As the interplanetary military tension is over veterans find themselves needless in the peace time society; crime and corruption is rising, and some even manage to sell older military tech to Belter pirate gangs.

Here is a collection with HD images from the Martian scenes in season 4 of The Expanse (open link in new tab to view in full resolution):

Mars colony in Season 4 of The Expanse

Mars colony in Season 4 of The Expanse
Exterior and interior of a shipyard for Martian fleet:
Shipyard exterior on Mars in Season 4 of The Expanse

Shipyard interior on Mars in Season 4 of The Expanse
Martian school kids training for exam:
Martian school kids training for exam in Season 4 of The Expanse

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Mars in Ad Astra (2019) movie

Ad Astra is a recent (September 2019) science fiction thriller set in mid-21st century when humanity has started to settle the inner Solar System. A son (Brad Pitt) is sent on a mission to uncover the truth about his father's (Tommy Lee Jones) long lost mission near Neptune which now threatens the survival of Earth. In his lonesome and dangerous mission he visits several places including a dynamic but wild human colony on the Moon and a desolate relay station on Mars. Here are some HD images from the Martian scenes in the movie.

Astronaut looking at rocket launch pad on Mars - image from Ad Astra movie

Spaceship approaching Mars - image from Ad Astra movie

Spaceship over Valles Marineris on Mars - image from Ad Astra movie

Friday, November 29, 2019

Poster of Tesla Cybertruck at Schiaparelli Crater on Mars

Poster of Tesla Cybertruck, pressurized edition, near a human base at Schiaparelli Crater on Mars by American video game concept artist Darren Bacon. More of his art here. Note a SpaceX cargo Starship (the 3-legged Tin Tin edition) on launch pad at the base.

Poster of Tesla Cybertruck at Schiaparelli Crater on Mars by Darren Bacon

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Starman resting at his Tesla Cybertruck on Mars by Eashan Misra

SpaceX's Starman resting at his Tesla Cybertruck on Mars by Indian space artist Eashan Misra. More of his art here. According to Elon Musk, the CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, the pressurized edition of Cybertruck will be capable to drive on Mars.

SpaceX Starman resting at his Tesla Cybertruck on Mars by Eashan Misra

Friday, November 22, 2019

Tesla Cybertruck on Mars

The pressurized edition of Tesla Cybertruck, unveiled yesterday by Elon Musk, will be capable operating on Mars. Reddit user u/redditbsbsbs has made an image:

Tesla Cybertruck on Mars

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

HD quality official render of SpaceX cargo Starship unloading on the Moon

3 weeks ago SpaceX's Principal Mars Development Engineer Paul Wooster gave a presentation "SpaceX's Plans for Sending Humans to Mars" at 22nd Annual Mars Society Convention. In the presentation there was a new render of the redesigned SpaceX's cargo Starship unloading some NASA rovers on Lunar surface. Unfortunately no one was able to capture a decent quality image of the render then. Yesterday the render was posted on NASA's web page in high quality:

SpaceX cargo Starship unloading on the Moon

The post reveals that SpaceX is one of companies taking part in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative which "allows rapid acquisition of lunar delivery services for payloads that advance capabilities for science, exploration, or commercial development of the Moon. Investigations and demonstrations launched on commercial Moon flights will help the agency study Earth’s nearest neighbor under the Artemis program. As its next step in exploration, NASA is preparing to send the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024, establish sustainable lunar exploration by 2028, and plans to send astronauts to Mars in the mid-2030s."

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Underground Mars colony for 1000 people by InnSpace

A weak ago we posted a concept of Mars colony for 1000 people created by InnSpace team from Poland for Mars Colony Prize contest (held by The Mars Society). In some of the responses there was a critique stressing out the colony should be built underground for better radiation protection. Since then the authors of the concept sent us some additional renderings from which we can conclude it's actually the case - the concept includes most of the buildings being built underground (with only the transparent rooftops sticking out from regolith cover for natural lighting) and interconnected via underground passages.

Underground Mars colony for 1000 people by InnSpace team for Mars Colony Prize contest
A hyperloop line entering the colony:
Mars colony for 1000 people by InnSpace team for Mars Colony Prize contest

Sunday, November 10, 2019

SpaceX Starship interior concept for 100 passengers

NASASpaceFlight.com forum members Ace (Rick Kiessig from New Zealand) and lamontagne (Canadian design engineer Michel Lamontagne) have created a concept for the interior layout of SpaceX's 100-passenger Starship (the passenger capacity goal stated by Elon Musk). Therefore this concept isn't meant for the first crew Starships on Mars used as temporary habitats for the first few years. For those first Starships Michel Lamontagne has created a separate concept.

The design divides the living space into 7 decks, labeled A to G, from the bottom-up. There are two openings between decks, offset slightly from one deck to the next, to reduce the risk of accidents related to trying to "fly" through multiple decks while in zero-G. There are removable rails around the openings, to prevent accidental falls while on Earth or Mars. All decks have a 2.2m high living space, except Deck G, which is 2.16m high. The blue bars in some areas are examples of hand and foot holds, like they use on International Space Station (ISS).

The floors are shown with hexagonal tiles, to indicate a system that will allow wall partitions and other items to be attached or removed to meet the tastes and needs of passengers.

All Decks of SpaceX 100-passenger Starship design by Ace & Michel Lamontagne

SpaceX 100-passenger Starship exterior design by Ace & Michel Lamontagne


Deck A has the gym, an external airlock, some storage space, and a couple of toilets:
  • ISS found a need for 2+ hours of exercise per day to avoid bone and muscle loss. Multiplied by 100 people, that requires 10 exercise machines. Note that several of them are mounted on the walls.
  • Making full use of walls and ceilings for living space is a theme of this design, since there's no "down" in zero-G.
  • The airlock allows access to the outside of the ship during flight, in case of a need to make inspections or minor repairs, and to support landing in places without pre-existing ground infrastructure.
Deck A of SpaceX 100-passenger Starship design by Ace & Michel Lamontagne

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Mars colony for 1000 people by Innspace team (Mars Colony Prize contest)

This year The Mars Society held Mars Colony Prize - a contest for "the best plan for a Mars colony of 1000 people. The colony should be self-supporting to the maximum extent possible - i.e. relying on a minimum mass of imports from Earth. The goal is to have the colony be able to produce all the food, clothing, shelter, power, common consumer products, vehicles, and machines for 1000 people, with only the minimum number of key components, such as advanced electronics needing to be imported from Earth." According to speculations laid out in our Mars Colonization Timeline the first human base on Mars could reach a thousand inhabitants by late 2040s.

The winners of the contest were chosen at the International Mars Society convention in Los Angeles, California in October 2019. Here are images of the Ideacity concept by InnSpace team from Poland which got the 5th place:

Mars colony for 1000 people by Innspace team for Mars Colony Prize contest
Central cluster of the colony:
Mars colony for 1000 people by Innspace team for Mars Colony Prize contest - city center

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Monday, October 28, 2019

SpaceX Starship Super Heavy launch animation by HazeGrayArt

Video animation of SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy launch by HazeGrayArt who is known for his superb animations of both real and paper rockets, spacecraft and aircraft on his YouTube channel. He has also made animations of the previous iterations of Starship: Tintin-style BFR v2018 and delta-winged BFR v2017 landing on Mars.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Orcus Patera base on Mars from Orbiter space flight simulator

Orbiter is a free-to-play space flight simulator developed by a single man Martin Schweiger since 2000 (the last major update was on 2016) and using realistic physics. Originally it's a very bare-bones program, but has a lot of fan-made addons which make the simulator much more enjoyable. One of those addons is Orcus Patera - a fictional human base/spaceport located in Orcus Patera depression on Mars; the addon is developed by Well and DanSteph.

Here are some images of the base modified in New Rome addon (which uses more recent Mars HRSC high-res texture pack and places the base in Valles Marineris):

Shuttle over Orcus Patera base on Mars from Orbiter space flight simulator

Orbiter 2016 space flight simulator

Orcus Patera base on Mars from Orbiter space flight simulator

Thursday, October 24, 2019

SpaceX Mars Base Alpha in late 2030s

A few hours ago SpaceX posted on their Flickr account 4K resolution versions of the previously released renders with the new design of Starship. Here is a closeup (open image link in new tab for best resolution) from one of them with Starship launching from Mars Base Alpha. According to our speculated Mars Colonization Timeline the first human base on Mars could be developed to the pictured level by late 2030s.

SpaceX Starship launching from Mars Base Alpha

Friday, October 18, 2019

Walking around China's C-Space Mars simulation base in Gobi desert

Walking around China's C-Space Mars simulation base in Gobi desert - photos and a video by Slovenian photographer Matjaž Tančič. A private company C-Space opened this base on April, 2019 in the Gobi Desert 40km from Jinchang, northwest Gansu Province. Its aim is to educate and provide an environment for youths and tourists to experience life on Mars.

Walking around China's C-Space Mars simulation base in Gobi desert - photo by Matjaž Tančič

Walking around China's C-Space Mars simulation base in Gobi desert - photo by Matjaž Tančič

Monday, October 14, 2019

Colonized Valles Marineris region on Mars from season 4 teaser of The Expanse

There are two short scenes on Mars in the latest season 4 teaser for The Expanse TV series - a political sci-fi detective set a few centuries in the future where humans have colonized the entire Solar system; Mars is one of three competing forces in the universe of The Expanse. There were three more scenes on Mars in the first teaser for season 4.
Human colonies in Valles Marineris region (horizontally flipped in the trailer for some unknown reason) on Mars:
Human colonies in Valles Marineris region on Mars from season 4 teaser of The Expanse
Earth's leader Avasarala attending a diplomatic banquet on Mars:
Earth's leader Avasarala attending a diplomatic banquet on Mars from season 4 teaser of The Expanse

HD images of Mars from season 2 of The Expanse TV series here


Sunday, October 13, 2019

Incredible miniatures for Total Recall (1990) Martian landscapes

One of the best movies set on Mars ever made - Total Recall (1990), stared by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin and Sharon Stone and directed by Paul Verhoeven (known also for Starship Troopers, RoboCop, Basic Instinct and other movies), was the last major movie to heavily utilize miniature effects before computer graphics took that job. Vast and incredibly detailed miniature Martian landscapes were built for the movie. Unfortunately most of the miniatures were destroyed after the filming was done. Here are some rare photos from the production process of the miniature Martian landscapes before their destruction.

Mars colony:

Miniatures for Total Recall Martian landscapes
⇩ in movie ⇩
View of Mars colony from Cohaagen's office in Total Recall 1990 movie

The spaceport:

Making miniatures for Total Recall Martian landscapes

Friday, October 11, 2019

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Renders of SpaceX new Starship & Super Heavy design by Charlie Burgess

British digital artist Charlie Burgess has created several renders of SpaceX's new Starship & Super Heavy design. More of his art here.
Full stack Super Heavy Starship launch:
SpaceX new Super Heavy Starship launch by Charlie Burgess
Starship orbiting Earth:
SpaceX new Starship orbiting Earth by Charlie Burgess

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

SpaceX new Starship leaving Mars by William Falconer-Beach

Picture of the Day 8/10/2019 - SpaceX's new Starship leaving Mars by William Falconer-Beach, a young graphic designer from New Zealand. More of his Starship renders here.

SpaceX new Starship leaving Mars by William Falconer-Beach

Monday, October 7, 2019

Family spacecraft approaching Martian spaceport by Clive Almeida

Inspiring scene from our bright future where humanity has colonized the Solar system - family spacecraft approaching Martian spaceport by Indian concept artist Clive Almeida; an image from his concept of a Mars theme park "Mars: a brave new world". More of his art here.

Family spacecraft approaching Martian spaceport by Clive Almeida

Sunday, October 6, 2019

SpaceX new Starship next to Super Heavy booster by Kimi Talvitie

Models of redesigned SpaceX's Starship (on right) next to Super Heavy booster (on left) by Finnish 3D artist Kimi Talvitie. More of his art here.

SpaceX new Starship next to Super Heavy booster by Kimi Talvitie
Models of full stack Super Heavy Starship with different fin positions:
SpaceX new full stack Super Heavy Starship by Kimi Talvitie

Saturday, October 5, 2019

Landing burn of SpaceX new Super Heavy booster by Sam Taylor

Picture of the Day 5/10/2019 - Landing burn of SpaceX's redesigned Starship Super Heavy booster by digital artist Sam Taylor. More of his art here.

Landing burn of SpaceX new Super Heavy booster by Sam Taylor

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Artistic photos of SpaceX Starship Mk 1 by Melissa Martinez

Impressive artistic photos of SpaceX's Starship Mk 1 prototype on 30th September at company's Boca Chica launch facility in South Texas by Melissa Martinez.

Artistic photo of SpaceX Starship Mk 1 by Melissa Martinez - gray

Artistic photo of SpaceX Starship Mk 1 by Melissa Martinez - red

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Wallpaper of SpaceX new Starship Super Heavy launch

SpaceX has opened a new section on its web page dedicated to the Starship. Among other media there is a new HD render of SpaceX's new Starship Super Heavy launch.
Here is 16:9 desktop wallpaper version (2048 x 1152) of the render; open link in new tab for full resolution:
16:9 desktop HD wallpaper of SpaceX's new Starship Super Heavy launch
9:16 mobile wallpaper version (1080 x 1920); open link in new tab for full resolution:

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Monday, September 30, 2019

Human colony on the Moon

Picture of the Day 30/9/2019 - Supplied by regular SpaceX's Starship flights, Moon Base Alpha has grown into a large human colony with dome-shaped habitat complexes in the center, surrounded in semi-circle by industrial area and solar array - a closeup from the Lunar colony render in Elon Musk's recent Starship update presentation.

Human colony on the Moon

Sunday, September 29, 2019

SpaceX Starship launching from Mars Base Alpha

In yesterdays SpaceX's Starship update Elon Musk teased a new concept image of Starship launching from Mars Base Alpha (1st image). The new design of the Starship was also included into an older concept image of Mars Base Alpha and posted on SpaceX's Twitter account (2nd image). Open link in new tab to view image in full resolution.

SpaceX Starship launching from Mars Base Alpha

SpaceX Starship at Mars Base Alpha