Merry Christmas from Santa Claus on Mars!

Merry Christmas for you all from Santa Claus on Mars! Artwork by American illustrator, Star Wars artist Chris Trevas. More of his art here.

Map of shallow subsurface water in Valles Marineris on Mars

On December 15 scientists from Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Russia revealed a discovery of an area with an unusually large amount of hydrogen in the Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars. Assuming the hydrogen is bound into water molecules, as much as 40% of the near-surface material in Candor Chaos region appears to be water. The discovery was made by neutron detector FREND on ESA&Roscosmos's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter orbiting Mars since October 2016. FREND is mapping the distribution of hydrogen in the uppermost meter of the planet’s surface. Hydrogen indicates the presence of water, being one of the constituents of the water molecule; it can also indicate water absorbed into the surface, or minerals that were formed in the presence of water.

While water is known to exist on Mars, most is found in the planet’s cold polar regions as ice. Typically water ice is not found exposed at the surface near the equator, as temperatures there are not cold enough for exposed water ice to be stable. Minerals seen in this part of Mars typically contain only a few percent water, much less than is evidenced by these new observations. “We found a central part of Valles Marineris to be packed full of water – far more water than we expected. This is very much like Earth’s permafrost regions, where water ice permanently persists under dry soil because of the constant low temperatures,” told one of the scientists involved in the study.

These are very inspiring discoveries for the future human colonization of Valles Marineris region we have imagined in our speculative Mars Colonization Timeline!

⇧ In the area C up to 40% of the near-surface material appears to be composed of water (by weight).

The most water-rich area in Valles Marineris region is located in Candor Chaos:

HERE is global-scale map of shallow subsurface water distribution on Mars published in 2019.

Lunar colony in season 5 of The Expanse

After the bombardment of Earth Lovell City on Luna (the Moon) became the de facto capital of United Nations, one of the three competing powers in universe of The Expanse TV series - a political sci-fi drama set a few centuries in the future where humans have colonized the entire Solar system. Luna functions as a way station between Earth and the rest of the Solar system, and its spaceport at Lovell City serves as a natural meeting place between residents of the inner planets and Belters. Due to its lower gravity, Luna is the only body in the inner system that Belters can easily visit. UN citizens living on Luna are generally wealthier than most of their counterparts on Earth.

As Mars was one of the major locations in season 4 of the show, Luna is in season 5, coming into spotlight after the bombardment of Earth. Here is a collection with HD images from the Lunar scenes in season 5 of The Expanse. There are a few more from the trailer of the season.

Avasarala looking at Lovell City:

Memorial at Lovell City:

SpaceX Legacy: episode 1: Manned Mission to Mars

YouTuber iamVisual has started to produce animated short series about the legacy of SpaceX – the leading NewSpace company developing innovative and cost-effective rocket and space technologies, including the first fully and rapidly reusable rocket system – two-stage super heavy-lift Starship rocket. The 1st episode of the series visualizes first human mission to Mars. You can watch it here:

Human mission to Martian moons Phobos and Deimos by Pascal Lee

Over the years planetary scientist, the director of Haughton-Mars Project, Pascal Lee has created a set of paintings depicting human mission to the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos. Here are several of them. More of his Mars related paintings here.

Spaceship approaching Mars with Phobos and Deimos in sight:

Landing on Deimos, the farthest and smallest of the two Martian moons:

Astronauts exploring Deimos:

Landing on Phobos, the closest and largest of the two Martian moons:

SpaceX Starship next to SLS rolling out of NASA's VAB by James Vaughan

Picture of the Day 25/11/2021 - SpaceX's full stack Starship Super Heavy rolling out of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) next to Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at Kennedy Space Center by American photographer and concept artist James Vaughan. More of his aerospace and defense concept art here.

Domed Martian city by Indranil Saha

Picture of the Day 20/11/2021 - an early human base on Mars in front of a domed city (Gaia-1) by graphic designer Indranil Saha (known as encreate) from India. More of his art here.

SpaceX Starship at Mars Base Alpha by Caspar Stanley

SpaceX's Starship standing in front of a geodesic dome at Mars Base Alpha by Danish freelance 3D artist Caspar Stanley. It's quite likely the first crewed Starships sent to Mars and acting as temporary habitats for the first settlers will stay on Mars forever, forming the basis of Mars Base Alpha built around them, as can be seen in SpaceX's own renderings.

Mars outpost by Robert McCall

Picture of the Day 02/11/2021 - An early human outpost on Mars consisting of several landers and rovers by classical space artist Robert McCall.

Squid Game season 2 on Mars

Squid Game season 2 on Mars with Player #456 dressed as SpaceX's Starman and playing* "Red light, Green light". Created by French urban artist Colin Doublier.

Martian aesthetics of Dune (2021) movie

The most recent adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel "Dune" – Denis Villeneuve's movie "Dune: Part One" (2021) was one of the most anticipated sci-fi movies of the year. It was released internationally on September 15 and in the US on October 22. The movie is brilliant and without a doubt the best visual adaptation of the famous novel. We are waiting for Part Two.

Dune has always been somewhat Martian. And the most recent movie is not an exception. Granted, planet Dune is a hot desert, not cold as Mars is, has breathable atmosphere, advanced life forms and Earth-like gravity but the scenery is pretty Martian. The landscapes in Villeneuve's movie has even been filmed in the same place where The Martian (2015) has been – Wadi Rum desert in Jordan. And it doesn't stop at landscapes – the Brutalist buildings of Arrakeen has Martian vibes as well.

Arrakeen Palace:

Ornithopter flying in Dune's sky:

Atreides spaceships and troops arriving on Dune:

Arrakeen city:

Ornithopter leaving research station:

Starship spaceport at Mars Base Alpha

A futuristic vision of a Starman walking past spaceport at Mars Base Alpha in 2080 by YouTuber iamVisual. There are several SpaceX Starships and Starman's Tesla Cybertruck parked at the spaceport. We estimate such sight will be possible much sooner – in around 2040.

Mars exploration roadtrip by Pascal Lee

Over the years planetary scientist, the director of Haughton-Mars Project, Pascal Lee has created a set of paintings depicting a Mars exploration roadtrip. Here are several of them. More of his Mars related paintings here.

Stopping at a crater in Utopia Planitia:

Astronauts exploring a lava tube on Mars:

Mars exploration rover:

Astronaut exploring Mars:

SpaceX Starship on Mars by Erik Corshammar

SpaceX's Starship standing proud on Mars with astronauts from the first human mission to the Red planet - a vision by Swedish space designer Erik Corshammar (Erc X). More of his art here.

Domed Mars colony by Steven Hobbs

Picture of the Day 19/09/2021 - domed oasis and human colony on Mars by Australian graphic designer Steven Hobbs. More of his Mars art here.

Mars base in Civilization 6 strategy game

Civilization 6 (Sid Meier's Civilization VI) is a turn-based strategy game released in 2016. The goal for the player is to develop a civilization from an early settlement through many in-game millennia to become a world power and achieve one of several victory conditions. One of the paths to win the game is through science domination where you need to be the first to launch a satellite, land humans on the Moon and establish a Martian colony.

Spaceship approaching Mars to establish a colony there:

Full in-game cinematic for science victory:

Infographic of SpaceX Starship timeline by Ryan MacDonald

Exoplanet astronomer at Cornell University's Carl Sagan Institute Ryan MacDonald (known on social media as Martian Colonist) has created an infographic of SpaceX's aspirational timeline for Starship's first missions to the Moon and Mars.

We estimate realistically the timeline will slip for a few years with #dearMoon mission happening in 2025, Lunar Starship demo landing in 2026, humans returning to the Moon in 2027, first cargo mission landing on Mars in 2027 and first crew mission landing on Mars in 2031.

Mars exploration expedition returning to their base

Mars exploration expedition finally returning to their base at sunset before the onset of a cold Martian night by Mondolithic Studios (Chris Wren & Kenn Brown).

First Russian cosmonauts on Mars by Alexander Ovcharenko

First Russian cosmonauts on Mars by freelance concept artist Alexander Ovcharenko (Александр Овчаренко) for Project "СССР-2061" - a community of Russian artists and writers envisioning Soviet Union in 2061 in an alternate reality. In 2011 they held their 1st arts contest asking participants to envision Soviet Union on Mars 50 years into the future. More images for the project here.

Starship Super Heavy launch pads at Mars City

As SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk has acknowledged, eventually Super Heavy booster stages for Starships could be manufactured on Mars as a launch platform for outer Solar system missions. Here is a vision of several Starship Super Heavy (in its 2016 design, then called Interplanetary Transport System) launch pads at Mars City's spaceport by US designer Casey Alexander.

"Mars City" is the name Elon Musk gave to SpaceX's future human colony on Mars (now referred to as "Mars Base Alpha") in some earlier presentations of SpaceX's Mars colonization architecture.

Domed park on a space station orbiting Mars

Picture of the Day 15/08/2021 - domed monumental park on a gigantic space station orbiting Mars by concept art and visual development house West Studio.

SpaceX Lunar Starship delivering cargo for Artemis Base Camp

SpaceX's Lunar Starship, selected to return humans to the Moon, delivering cargo and crew for NASA's Artemis Base Camp on the Moon's South Pole. Concept artwork created by US 3D artist Nick Henning.

Astronauts exploring Martian canyon by Mark Garlick

Picture of the Day 01/08/2021 - two astronauts exploring a canyon on Mars by British illustrator Mark Garlick. More of his art here.

Human colony on terraformed Mars by Tiago da Silva

Human colony on partially terraformed Mars - a concept artwork by Portuguese fantasy artist Tiago da Silva (Grafik) created for upcoming computer game Terraformers. It is a Mars colonization strategy game currently being developed by indie game developer Asteroid Lab.

Starman waiting to board a Starship flight

Picture of the Day 14/06/2021 - Starman waiting to board a SpaceX's Starship flight by Swedish space designer Erik Corshammar (Erc X). More of his art here.

Martian city wall by Jon Hrubesch

Gigantic wall of a futuristic city on partly terraformed Mars by American digital painter Jon Hrubesch. More of his sci-fi art here.

Closeup of the rooftop gardens. Mars is terraformed to the level where water can be in liquid state and trees can grow in open atmosphere.