CHAPTER 4
‘Life on Mars’ has made four biographical videos featuring each of the astronauts, in the months leading up to the launch. Now they are showing each one to the whole world and simultaneously to the astronauts as they make their silent, dark way outward to Mars.
Each week on Earth, one of the videos is shown in the country of origin of that astronaut, to a local audience chosen after a competition to test their knowledge of all the astronauts.
The rest of the world also watches the 30 minute video and then watches as the top five contestants from the audience compete in a quiz show about the video just shown. There are 15 questions about various details of the person’s life. After the first five questions, the weakest contestant is eliminated, and another after 10 questions, so that the last three contestants have five questions left.
At the end, the highest total score wins, with more questions if there is a tie. The winner is given the option of being in the top 100 for the next round of choosing candidates for Mars.
On the space-ship, the three astronauts not featured in the video also answer the questions, with a winner being found, the prize being relief from all routine duties for a day.
When Mariada’s turn comes, Cape Town is the city she has chosen as her home base as she spent many years there. The video shows that, after being born in King William’s Town, her parents moved to Pietermaritzburg.
“I loved hearing stories and, while stories were being read to me, I followed the print and taught myself to read, from the age of about three years. I liked nearly all school subjects so I tried to take as many as I could, doing nine subjects for the school-leaving certificate.
For my choice of study at university, I would have loved to do Art or Music, but I decided to follow the biggest intellectual challenge, it seemed, Quantum Physics, after enrolling for Astrophysics at the University of Cape Town. I loved it but, after spending my whole life studying, I decided to travel and work overseas. In London I met a young Japanese woman who suggested I should see Japan. We became such good friends that I stayed with her and her mother in Fukuoka in a tiny apartment. As her mother spoke no English but loved to talk, I had a crash-course in the kitchen in Japanese. I was also teaching English at a pre-school and so I had a perfect opportunity to keep learning not only oral but also written Japanese. After one year I was reasonably proficient and fluent.
I heard of a course in making cocktails for up-market clientele and at the end of it was offered a lucrative position at an exclusive night-club where my bilingualism was valued. After two years I returned home to start on my PhD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, which I was awarded at about the same time as I heard that I was in the top 100 for Mars.”
Cape Town City Hall is the venue for the quiz show and is looking magnificently colonial under the ‘table-cloth’ cloud on Table Mountain. The place is full to capacity with an enthusiastic audience, and the top three contestants are young and highly motivated to win the grand prize.
The winner is a young, female, final year, BSc student from the University of the Western Cape. She vividly recalls how Mariada gave a talk at her township school on the Mars project, and how inspired she was to excel at Maths and Science after that. She has no hesitation to be a candidate for Mars.
The quiz in space that follows is also a closely-contested affair, watched by millions.
CHAPTER 5
Six months have passed and the craft nears Mars. As it approaches, the heat shield protects the craft as it enters the Martian atmosphere. Parachutes open at six km altitude. Retro-rockets fire at 1.5 km, slowing the craft to zero speed as it lands. The craft weighs about 40 tons, considerably more than the four tons of the Curiosity rover with its science laboratory, so the sense of relief at not having a crash-landing is palpable. Aziz does a quick check of all the main communication and electronics systems and pronounces them all in perfect shape, a huge relief as the craft will be the data and communication centre on Mars and will be right in the middle of the settlement area.
Mariada is the first to alight and repeats the version, with a few alterations, of Neil Armstrong on stepping onto the Moon 55 years earlier:
“One small step for a human, one new planet for humankind to live on.”
There is, in fact, a partly functional outpost there already, with a breathable atmosphere of 0.7 bar pressure, 3000 litres of water, 240 kg of oxygen stored, and a communication system to monitor these resources. The crew is soon busy connecting the additional housing materials and solar panels that they have brought with them, including systems of pipes, cables, machinery and even cameras. One camera will remain in the space-craft and three others will be in the housing complex of three areas: the living area, the bath and sleeping area and the garden area. The living area is divided into a laboratory and a kitchen-dining-meeting area.
Heaps of frozen soil are being brought by a conveyor belt into the garden area. Each ton of sand yields 20 litres of water after being exposed to microwaves and then collecting the condensed vapour. Some of the water is for drinking, some is converted to oxygen and some is used for irrigation. Garden beds are being fertilised and sown with seeds and the recycling plant is working. The first seeds begin to germinate.
Sexuality issues in space have obviously been thoroughly discussed beforehand, with the final analysis being roughly as follows: Regarding contraception, the men consented to have reversible vasectomies. The policy of no births on Mars, with no real Martian as yet, will apply indefinitely. If you really can’t resist sleeping together, although it is strongly discouraged because it can have divisive effects, and probably could not have happened in the space craft before now anyway, well, nobody can really stop you. But if your relationship gets in the way of any duties we have or the smooth functioning of the unit, and we will tell you if it does, that is not on. If you do not heed the warning, it will be officially recorded in the log book.
‘Life on Mars’ has a ‘delayed live’ interview with Mariada as she replies to a question from Earth.
“What are our main areas of research? Well, they are both practical and very theoretical. Practical research is basically about our survival here, ensuring that we will continue to generate electricity, thereby creating water from ice, to drink and irrigate our crops and, by electrolysis, to generate oxygen to breathe. Each one of these areas is crucial to our survival here, so we need to study every possibility of how to improve our systems, or how to prevent or deal with possible problems in future.
For example, how would we deal with a sandstorm, quite common on Mars, and which may block out sunlight for a few days, so we can only generate minimal power from the panels.
Well, we have a portable nuclear device to use in emergencies. We have become hyper-aware of how precious every single thing is that we have. You can’t just go out and buy another light bulb. But we do have a 3D printer which can make many useful objects, like tools and nuts and bolts.
A major area of concern is that of the blood groups of members. The reason is that, if somebody is injured and needs blood, at least one other member should have compatible blood to donate. The ideal is that everyone is O positive, with the least chances of rejection.
Then, of course, the big question of our research here — Is there, or was there, life on Mars?
So we analyse samples of soil, looking for any small sign of (previous) life. But that raises the question, ‘What is life?’ Will we know, when we see something, that that thing is evidence of life?
Because, you see, life on Mars may have been or be very similar to or even exactly the same as life on Earth, or it may be very different. Imagine if it is different — that could mean that there may be a multitude of other life forms on other planets in our galaxy and other galaxies.
We think we have found evidence that there was life here, in the form of fossilised material, like bacteria and fungi, and if we could dig deeper, we may still find living organisms.
Just as we kno
w that there were dinosaurs on Earth millions of years ago, probably wiped out by an asteroid strike, there may have been life forms, even perhaps a previous civilisation of humans or ‘alien’ hominids or humanoids, here on Mars. However, it seems that Mars was hit by massive asteroid strikes and everything that had been here, including probable oceans or lakes, was destroyed. The magnetic fields around the planet were dramatically weakened and their function of shielding a planet from solar radiation and helping to reduce evaporation of gases and water was greatly reduced. This means that the atmosphere that Mars may have had was lost into space and, even now, the thin atmosphere of carbon dioxide easily escapes and there is high solar radiation. Unfortunately, the suggestion that we should try to create an atmosphere here is therefore problematic. There has been a proposal to explode a series of fusion bombs over the poles, vaporising carbon dioxide ice to make an insulating atmosphere, but it is not clear how effective that would be. The fear that the soil and water on Mars is dangerously radio-active is unfounded because the heavy metals like uranium need to be processed to cause that.”
CHAPTER 6
In 2026 the second group of four crew arrives and the settlement expands.
Early in 2028 a message from Earth arrives.
“We have an announcement to make. As you know, there has been a build-up to a breakthrough in the speed of space travel. Trials have shown that the new fuel being tested will not only enable astronauts to reach Mars in about six weeks instead of seven months, but there will be enough fuel to land safely and then take off again and return to Earth. The new system works on electromagnetic energy and is known as VASIMR (Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket).
It has also been decided, mainly for reasons of your safety and health, that each group should spend only four years on Mars. This means that the first group will be leaving after the new crew of eight arrive on a new craft in a month’s time.”
The new craft arrives with the new crew and two pilots, and the first crew, including Mariada, leaves for Earth. They are all elated to be returning to Earth after having experienced, literally, life on Mars.
They arrive back on Earth and have to undergo a few days of tests, to check bone density, lung capacity, blood cells and much more. They all appear to have suffered no long-term effects of being in space and on Mars for four years. Mariada describes the feeling of the sun and wind on her face as the best feeling she has had for years.
A presenter for ‘Life on Mars’ interviews Mariada.
“What would you describe as the biggest challenge the team had on Mars?”
“As you have seen for yourselves, some of the most interesting things to happen on Mars were about us and how we coped with the basics, like sharing our minimal resources, catering for each person’s quirks and eccentricities and doing without all the things we take for granted on Earth, like eating chocolate or having a swim or even a bath. What had been agreed on Earth did not necessarily happen on Mars. Sometimes there was an attitude shift, as though the system of ethics and justice used on Earth did not always apply here. Maybe it was because we were all aware that there could be no prison or ‘time out’ as everyone is essential all day. There could be no fines as we had no money, and what rewards or punishments can you give? If you neglect or abuse something or somebody, do you have to do extra gardening or cooking or something, or not watch T.V.? There was that tacit threat that if you did not behave responsibly like an adult, you may have to be treated like a child. But, thankfully, nobody flipped out or smashed anything important, and we all came back fairly healthy and sane, I think.
I feel we have learned two crucial things : One is that we are much clearer as to the human element of these missions and the biggest weak points in terms of difficult situations and behaviour. It’s nothing ground-breaking really.
Just the usual stuff like being flexible, consultative, problem-oriented, generous and so on. The other is that we have a huge realisation of the importance of looking after the whole being of planet Earth. That everything is precious, deserving respect, inter-connected and part of an even bigger universe. We have a moral imperative to live the most responsible and caring life that we can.
Since arriving back, I have been continuing with research into quantum biology issues like photosynthesis and how we can harness the sun’s energy more efficiently, and how to use nuclear energy more safely. But I am also interested in issues of psychology, ethics, law and spirituality.”
Using Mars as a ‘refreshment station’ and taking over a year, a space-craft finally reaches the furthest ‘planet’ in our Solar System, Pluto, also with huge resources of ice as on Mars, and a settlement starts there in 2030. This time, however, it was decided that only robots would be sent as there had been such huge advances in robotics, and as the most problematic area in any settlement is the human factor. Robots do not need oxygen and water, are less affected by radiation, and do not have feelings or make mistakes.
CHAPTER 7
Mariada is staying at the family beach house at Keurboomstrand near Plettenberg Bay.
She is out paddling on her paddle-ski in the bay and is passed by an exuberant school of dolphins. She remembers the dream she had before leaving for Mars, where a dolphin speaks to her, saying that she will find it on a planet beyond Mars, like Earth. She cannot get the image out of her mind, until a boat draws up nearby, and the skipper greets her.
“Hi there. Sorry to interrupt your conversation with the dolphins. Did any tell you anything interesting?”
“Actually, yes. Apparently, there may be dolphins in outer space. And I may have a date with one.”
“Well, before you do that, would you like to come and visit our research station here? Maybe you can teach us how to communicate with them. By the way, my name’s Alex.”
“That sounds interesting. I’d love to. And my name’s Mariada. See you tomorrow.”
PART 2:
COMING IN — CETACEANS ( 2030 —2044 )
“Perhaps we have some things still to learn from the natural world around us before we turn to the far shores of space and whatever creatures may await us there.”
L. Eisely. ‘The long loneliness’. 1960
“We, as relative newcomers, may be asking too much of ourselves to communicate meaningfully with minds as ancient as those of the whales and dolphins.”
J. Lilly. ‘Man and Dolphin.’ 1961
CHAPTER 1
In the laboratory at the Marine Research Station at Plettenberg Bay, Alex and Mariada listen to an expert cetacean linguist explain a recording of a whale song. She plays it in short bursts, explaining that she is translating it loosely and creatively, with names especially. She plays the first few seconds.
“I am Aristotle. I like to think deeply and develop our knowledge of history. My mother is Helen, who was abducted when young by another clan, but brought back by my father. My grandmother was Diana, killed by whalers.”
The linguist explains, “This song went on for about 40 minutes and, as each whale generation is about 20 years on average, five names covers about a hundred years.
We counted about 80 names, the last of which could refer to a period almost 2 000 years ago. However, we have found that there can be variations of these ‘family history’ songs, and they can sometimes skip many generations and only refer to those who lived in periods of major events.
The most often-mentioned dramatic events of the fairly recent past, besides deaths from whaling, involved bombs, referred to as being like a large number of whales landing on the water after breaching, or a combination of a thunderstorm and earthquake. The period referred to was clearly around the time of World War 2, and the most notable bombs referred to were probably the nuclear explosions of 1945 in Japan and later in the Bikini atoll area. Links were also made with events like major earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods and so on. When a reference was made to the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., it was realised that the ‘memory’ of whales could go back
thousands of years.”
CHAPTER 2
Mariada and Alex are walking on the beach at Keurboomstrand and pass under the arch of Arch Rock just before the Matjes River mouth. They climb the path up to the Matjes River Rock Shelter and read that it is one of five national monuments of Stone Age sites in South Africa. Later Stone Age people, ancestors of the Khoisan, lived here periodically from about 12 000 to 1 000 years ago.
More than 100 adults and children were buried here, some with painted stones, bows and arrows and fishing gear. The middle of the last Glacial Period (Ice Age) was about 18 000 years ago, when the air temperature here was about five degrees Centigrade cooler, the sea level was 130m lower and this area was, therefore, about 100km inland. When the polar ice started melting, from about 16 000 years ago, the sea level started rising until it reached the present level about 12 000 years ago, when people started using the shelter.
Alex wonders, “Who knows what settlements, and maybe cultures, were submerged by the rising sea, like the legend of Atlantis? And if our own era of global warming continues, most of our major cities will become flooded, causing massive disruptions and an economic melt-down.”
Alex is on the balcony of the research station, looking out to sea towards Keurboomstrand. The East wind has been blowing for a few days, bringing colder water and causing a heavy bank of mist over the sea, so he can’t see Keurbooms across the bay from town. He wonders if she will disappear from his life or if he will disappear from hers.