First plant on Mars by Samuel van der Hoeven

Picture of the Day 2/4/2018 - First naturally grown plant outside a greenhouse on Mars by Samuel van der Hoeven.
More of his art here.

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Two homes of humanity

Earth and fully terraformed Mars to scale. The image of the terraformed Mars was done by software engineer Kevin Gill from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. More of his images here.

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Terraformed Green Mars by Ludovic Celle

Picture of the Day 4/10/2017 - Terraformed Green Mars by French graphic artist Ludovic Celle. More of his Mars art here.

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House on Mars by Nacho Malter

Picture of the Day 28/7/2017 - drawing of a cottage house on partly terraformed Mars by Argentinian freelance artist Nacho Malter. More of his art here.

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"Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species" by Anastasiya Prosochkina & Aleksey Mazur

Picture of the Day 13/5/2017 - SpaceX's Interplanetary Transport System will enable Mars as the other home for humanity, a painting by Russian sci-fi artists Anastasiya Prosochkina & Aleksey Mazur.

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Terraforming Mars by FryxGames

Picture of the Day 21/3/2017 - Astronauts planting plants in an early phase of terraforming Mars by Jacob, Daniel & Isaac Fryxelius (FryxGames) - a cover picture for their resource management board game "Terraforming Mars" (2016).

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Mars terraforming station by Mateusz Katzig

Picture of the Day 6/9/16 - Mars terraforming station by British/Polish digital artist Mateusz Katzig. More of his art here.

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Mars movie review - Red Planet (2000)

In the time we all are waiting for the upcoming sci-fi blockbuster The Martian I decided to watch again and review Red Planet (2000) - a sci-fi movie stared by Val Kilmer and Carrie-Anne Moss with quite similar plot (astronauts trying to survive and get off Mars) as the The Martian but undeservedly low scored by the most critics.

Story

In the first part of 21st century humans have totally polluted Earth and now are remotely trying to terraform Mars to make it a second home for humanity. For 20 years everything seems to be going according to the plan - temperatures on Mars has been raised and dispatched algae has been starting to cover more and more of the planet introducing oxygen in its atmosphere. Suddenly all the algae vanishes and there is no other way but to send a manned mission to find out - why this is happening.

It is year 2056 and a crew of 6 is being sent to Mars aboard the "Mars-1" in the first manned mission to Mars. When they reach the orbit of Mars their ship is struck by a particle burst from an unexpectedly powerful Solar flare. In result the electronics of Mars-1 is fried and fire is spreading through all the ship. 5 of 6 crew members eject the ship with landing module but the only female - ship's captain Bowman (Carrie-Anne Moss) - stays on Mars-1 to save the ship.

Mars game review - Red Faction: Guerrilla

Red Faction: Guerrilla (2009) is an open world (sandbox) third-person shooter game set in the universe of Red Faction computer game series. It details the events between original Red Faction and Red Faction: Origins TV movie (followed by Red Faction: Armageddon computer game) on a terraformed Mars in 2125.

The most unique and compelling feature of this game is the ability to destroy almost everything in the game world. And you can do this in a lot of ways - by crushing with your powerful sledgehammer or any type of transport, by shooting, by blowing up a charge or a chemical cistern and so on.

Story

The story of Red Faction series is tied around the freedom fights of human colonists on Mars against an oppressive rule of Earth-based corporation - the plot line often used in Mars fiction. In the first game of the series - Red Faction set in 2075, 50 years before Guerrilla - Mars was liberated from the oppressive rule of Ultor corporation by revolutionary Martian miners (called "Red Faction") and its leader Parker (you can visit him as an old man next to his shack near a mohole in Badlands sector of Guerrilla). The allies of those fights - Earth Defense Force (EDF) - in last 50 years has become as ruthless as Ultor had been, for the interests of Earth's corporations pressing Martian society into forced labor. No wonder the Red Faction is revived. Unlike as in the original game where in open areas you should walk in a pressure suit, in Guerrilla the Mars is terraformed to the stage you can breath freely.

Terraformed Mars by Ville Ericsson

Picture of the Day 29/8/15 - A shuttle flying over terraformed Mars by Swedish concept artist Ville Ericsson. More of his fantasy art here.

Terraforming Mars by William Black

The gradual terraformation of Mars as it would be seen from space (by William Black). More of his space concept art here.

Mars movie review - Red Faction: Origins (2011)

Red Faction: Origins (2011) is a TV movie set in the universe of Red Faction computer game series. It details the events between Red Faction: Guerrilla and Red Faction: Armageddon on terraformed Mars of mid-22nd century. It's one of the latest movies depicting human colonies on Mars.

Story

The story of Red Faction series is tied around the freedom fights of human colonists on Mars against an oppressive rule of Earth-based corporation - the plot line often used in Mars fiction. The main hero of the movie is Jake Mason - the son of the famous leader of Mars resistance force (called "Red Faction") - Alec Mason - who has led the revolutionists towards the victory against Earth Defense Force (EDF) 25 years ago in Red Faction: Guerrilla. The victory hasn't brought a prosperity to the Mars colonies and colonists are living in quite poor conditions. The inhabited area of Mars is split by colonists and the marauders - a militant group of savage outcasts - and the relations between those two groups are getting more and more tense.

Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars by Peter Elson

A set of paintings for the book covers of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy by classical space illustrator Peter Elson.
More of his paintings you can find here.

Phase 1. - Red Mars:

Phase 2. - Green Mars:

Phase 3. - Blue Mars:

Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars by CarlosNCT

A set of artwork by Spanish digital artist CarlosNCT inspired from three phases of terraformation of Mars in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy. Click to view in full resolution:

Phase 1. - Red Mars:

Mars terraforming plant by National Geographic Channel

Picture of the Day 23/1/15 - A Mars terraforming plant from documentary "Mars: Making the New Earth" (2009) by National Geographic Channel. You can watch the full documentary here.

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Terraforming Mars by Dane Spangler

Three phases for terraforming Mars by Dane Spangler's illustrations. Note the time needed (changing technologic level in illustrations) for complete terraformation of Mars. Click to view in full resolution:

Phase 1. - Red Mars: