Showing posts with label Mars orbit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mars orbit. Show all posts

Sunday, January 14, 2024

How to steal an asteroid .. "For All Mankind" season 4

It's possible our judgement is biased towards Mars-related content, but season 4 of For All Mankind alternate history sci-fi TV series is show's most exciting season yet. In season 4, depicting the alternate 2003, the international Happy Valley Base, founded in 1995 during season 3, has been significantly expanded and there are around 200 people living in it. We made a separate article with a large collection of high resolution shots depicting the exterior and interior of Happy Valley Base:

Mars base for 200 people in For All Mankind season 4

The main theme in season 4 is increasingly diverging visions for the purpose of human presence on Mars. For some it's only another contract job, but for others Mars is a new place to call "home". Add to the mix a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get hold on a large lithium-rich asteroid and increasingly strained relationships between the "upper class" (astronauts / cosmonauts, scientists and top executives) and contract workers literally living underground, and you have a recipe for a "Martian rebellion".

How to steal an asteroid - 'For All Mankind' season 4

For All Mankind is exploring the idea of never ending space race if Soviets would have beaten US in the race for the Moon and the intention of the show is each season to jump about a decade further into the increasingly diverging reality of the show: in season 1, depicting alternate 1969 to 1974, both Soviets and US start building their separate bases near the lunar South pole; in season 2 (1983) both bases have been expanded and the superpowers compete for resources on the Lunar surface; in season 3 (1992 to 1995), Soviets and US are joined by a private company Helios and North Korea for a four way race to be first on Mars; in season 4 (2003) there is a sprawling international human base on Mars and an unexpected side enters the race to get hold on a large, lithium-rich asteroid for mining. You can watch the show on Apple TV+

Ahead there is a VISUAL RECAP OF SEASON 4, consisting of high resolution shots, downscaled from 4K UHD screens for better image quality. Be aware of heavy spoilers, revealing major story plots:

During season 4 interplanetary ships don't land directly on Mars; instead they dock to Phoenix, orbiting Mars, and the rest of the trip is made via small shuttles heading down to the surface:
Mars orbital station Phoenix in 'For All Mankind' season 4
Ed and Svetlana flying the asteroid capture ship Ranger:
Ed and Svetlana flying asteroid capture ship Ranger in 'For All Mankind' season 4

Mars orbital station Phoenix in 'For All Mankind' season 4
Season 4 starts with an unsuccessful asteroid capture mission:
Asteroid capture ship Ranger leaving Mars orbital station Phoenix in 'For All Mankind' season 4

Monday, October 23, 2023

International Mars Orbital Station - Part 2 of Martian sketches by Andrey Maximov

Environment concept artist Andrey Maximov from Armenia has created an impressive set of artworks called Martian sketches depicting a "routine" journey to Mars in 2089. So far he has published 25 pages of those sketches. As the artist describes them: "this series is kind of like the road sketches of a member of an expedition to Mars. It's a routine flight in the not-too-distant future. The planet is more or less inhabited. We have an orbital station around Mars. There are already several settlements on the surface, mining is going on."

1st part (10 sketches) of Andrey's Martian sketches depicted the expedition leaving Earth.

Here is 2nd part (5 sketches) depicting expedition's arrival to International Mars Orbital Station:

Page 11 of Martian sketches by Andrey Maximov - International Mars Orbital Station

Page 12 of Martian sketches by Andrey Maximov - International Mars Orbital Station. Berth 2

Page 13 of Martian sketches by Andrey Maximov - International Mars Orbital Station. Major axis view

Sunday, October 8, 2023

Colonized Mars - Martian city lights from space

How would a colonized Mars appear from space? Here is a FHD wallpaper with lights of two large cities on Mars as they would be seen from space; created by an uncredited artist for the Mars City Design platform:

Colonized Mars - HD wallpaper with Martian city lights from space (via Mars City Design)

Friday, September 22, 2023

SpaceX Starship orbiting terraformed Mars by Erik Corshammar

Picture of the Day 22/09/2023 - SpaceX Starship orbiting partially terraformed Mars by Swedish space designer Erik Corshammar (Erc X). More of his art here.

SpaceX Starship orbiting terraformed Mars by Erik Corshammar

Saturday, August 5, 2023

'The World of Tomorrow' (1980) book cover

In his popular science book "The World of Tomorrow", first published in 1980, Robin Kerrod depicted life as it might look in the 21st century. Today, living in the third decade of the 21st century, this depiction might seem overly technologically optimistic (like most past attempts to depict the future), but the book contains many illustrations that positively inspired a whole generation of children. Here, for example, book's cover illustration shows a spacecraft that has landed on Phobos, near a human base:

Retrofuturistic illustration of a spaceship on Phobos from the book 'The World of Tomorrow' (1980)

Spaceship on Phobos from 'The World of Tomorrow' (1980) book cover

Saturday, June 10, 2023

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

SpaceX Starship landing on Mars - 4K UHD renders from Elon's Starship update 2022

When SpaceX CEO and lead designer Elon Musk gave his latest Starship update in February 2022, the presentation contained an animation of Starship's mission to Mars with a landing at Mars Base Alpha in the end. Today SpaceX finally gave public access to 4K UHD version of that animation. Here are some images from it.
Starship landing at Mars Base Alpha:
SpaceX Mars Base Alpha from Elon Musk's Starship update 2022
Click HERE for 4K UHD resolution

SpaceX Mars Base Alpha spaceport from Elon Musk's Starship update 2022
Click HERE for 4K UHD resolution

SpaceX Starmen arriving at Mars Base Alpha from Elon Musk's Starship update 2022
Click HERE for 4K UHD resolution
Starship approaching Mars:
SpaceX Starship approaching Mars from Elon Musk's Starship update 2022
Click HERE for 4K UHD resolution

Saturday, February 11, 2023

Terraformed & colonized Mars as it would be seen from space

Terraformed and colonized Mars as it would be seen from Phobos, the closest of two natural Martian moons, by British illustrator Mark Garlick. More of his art here.

Terraformed & colonized Mars as it would be seen from Phobos by Mark Garlick

Sunday, January 22, 2023

Martian city lights from space

Two FHD wallpapers (1920 x 1080) with the city lights of a large city on Mars as they would be seen from space. The images were created by an uncredited artist(s) for HP's "Mars Home Planet" rendering challenge in 2018 inviting participants "to imagine, create and virtually experience a sophisticated civilization on Mars. A new home for one million humans."

Mars city lights from space

Mars city lights from space

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Terraformed Mars from human base on Phobos by David A. Hardy

In 1994 the famous British space artist David A. Hardy created several retrofuturistic illustrations of a human base on Phobos, the closest of two natural Martian moons, in front of a terraformed Mars. The illustrations were created as cover art for two separate books. More of Hardy's Mars art here.
"Terraforming Mars" as cover art for Arthur C. Clarke's book "The Snows of Olympus" (1994):
Terraforming Mars - view from human base on Phobos by David A. Hardy
"Terraformed Mars" as cover art (there are several slightly different versions of this illustration) for Carl Sagan's book "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space" (1994):
Terraformed Mars from human base on Phobos by David A. Hardy

Sunday, May 1, 2022

How we will travel beyond Mars - shortfilm by Erik Wernquist

Swedish digital artist Erik Wernquist, the author of the stunning shortfilm "Wanderers" which depicts a vision of humanity's expansion into the Solar System, has created another inspirational shortfilm "Go Incredibly Fast" "to identify a few propulsion approaches we might utilize to send humans to the worlds in our Solar System beyond Mars and reach out across the vast distances between stars."

Here you can watch the shortfilm and see some Mars-related images from it:

Astronaut in front of Mars colony:
Astronaut in front of Mars colony by Erik Wernquist
Space station orbiting Mars:
Space station orbiting Mars by Erik Wernquist

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Spaceport on Phobos (concept art for Aliens: Colonial Marines)

Digital paintings of a spaceport on Phobos, the closest of two natural Martian moons. These images are concept art for Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013) - a first-person shooter (FPS) game set in the universe of Alien franchise. Unfortunately this location didn't make to the final game release.

In Alien's universe (depicted in Alien, Predator & Prometheus movies, games and books) Mars is the first planet colonized by humans in mid-21st century. There are many colonies and military bases on the planet established by both national and commercial entities and housing millions of people. On Phobos there is a commercial research facility experimenting with xenomorphs or aliens - a highly aggressive endoparasitoid extraterrestrial species.

Spaceport on Phobos (concept art for Aliens - Colonial Marines game)
Spaceship leaving Phobos' spaceport. Note the partially terraformed Mars below:
Spaceship leaving spaceport on Phobos (concept art for Aliens - Colonial Marines game)

Sunday, November 28, 2021

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:
Human mission to Martian moons by Pascal Lee
Landing on Deimos, the farthest and smallest of the two Martian moons:
Human mission to Martian moons - landing on Deimos - by Pascal Lee
Astronauts exploring Deimos:
Human mission to Martian moons - exploring Deimos - by Pascal Lee
Landing on Phobos, the closest and largest of the two Martian moons:
Human mission to Martian moons - landing on Phobos - by Pascal Lee

Friday, September 17, 2021

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.

Mars base in Civilization 6 game (science victory)
Spaceship approaching Mars to establish a colony there:
Spaceship approaching Mars in Civilization 6 game (science victory)
Full in-game cinematic for science victory:

Sunday, August 15, 2021

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.

Domed park on a space station orbiting Mars by West Studio

Friday, February 12, 2021

Spaceport on Phobos by Thomas Peters

Picture of the Day 12/02/2021 - Spaceport on Phobos, the closest of two natural Martian moons, by graphic designer and illustrator Thomas Peters (Drell-7). More of his space art here.

Spaceport on Phobos by Thomas Peters (Drell-7)

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

SpaceX orbital shuttle concept by Rodrigo Magro

SpaceX is developing its Starship Super Heavy two-stage super heavy-lift launch vehicle for interplanetary flights. But, if you would need a flight only between the surface of Mars, Moon or other similar planetary body and its orbit, you could do it by less powerful spacecraft - an orbital shuttle.

Here is a concept of such spacecraft, called SpaceX Starflight, by Spanish transportation designer Rodrigo Magro. The orbital shuttle would have a lifting-body shape with thermal shield on the windward side, two forward winglets as Starship, four lower fins with landing legs and solar panels, large panoramic window and hypergolic auxiliary engines for landing on the Moon and other smaller planetary bodies.

SpaceX orbital shuttle on Mars by Rodrigo Magro

SpaceX orbital shuttle concept by Rodrigo Magro

Monday, June 29, 2020

SpaceX orbital station above terraformed Mars by Encho Enchev

Picture of the Day 29/6/2020 - Concept art for SpaceX's orbital station above partly terraformed Mars by Encho Enchev from Ubisoft. More of his concept art here.

SpaceX orbital station above terraformed Mars by Encho Enchev

Monday, June 1, 2020

Monday, May 25, 2020

SpaceX Red Dragon entering Mars' atmosphere by Chris Monson

Vision of SpaceX's Dragon 2 capsule entering Mars' atmosphere (if Red Dragon missions launched by Falcon Heavy hadn't been cancelled and replaced by much more powerful Starship mission architecture) by computer designer Chris Monson. More of his art here.

SpaceX Red Dragon entering Mars' atmosphere by Chris Monson