The Ares
From The Kim Stanley Robinson Encyclopedia
The Ares was the spacecraft in which the first hundred colonists traveled to Mars. The ship was constructed in Earth orbit out of external fuel tanks from American and Russian space shuttles. The routinization of this method allowed The Ares to be completed in less than two years before beginning its journey to Mars on December 21st, 2026.
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Design
An immense ship, its primary living space is composed of eight hexagons of connected cylinders, ranging from Torus A to H. Each torus, or hexagon, is composed of six space-shuttle external-fuel tanks. These eight are speared down the middle by a central hub shaft, with one end terminating in a bubble window to permit views of the stars and a partial view of the ship behind.
Different toruses might hold dining halls, living quarters, a farm, and even a strolling garden. The entire ship is equated to about the living area of a large city hotel.
As a whole, the ship slowly rotates, providing about .38 of Earth's gravity, or Martian gravity.
Life on The Ares
The Solar Storm
A watershed moment enroute to Mars. Four months into the journey, the crew was alerted by Houston of a solar flare powerful enough to create a solar storm of deadly radioactive levels within the Ares unless proper protective measures were enacted. After securing farm animals and sensitive equipment behind protective radiation barriers such as water, the entire crew gathered in the weightless, heavily shielded central shaft that spears down the middle of the Ares.
All one hundred crew members were gathered together in the radiation-secure space of the Ares, aside from the 101st member. This stowaway was The Coyote, actually Desmond Hawkins, who was secured in the farm area in a manner similar to the farm animals' protective quarters.
Within the radiation protection area, the central shaft, the core crew had significant discussions ranging from their future communications with Earth to altering the entire physical plan and structure of the colony on the Martian surface. Most controversial topics were raised by Arkady Bogdanov, who suggested the entire crew totally disregard all plans made for them on Terra. Some members would be in various levels of agreement, and others, such as Phyllis Boyle, flatly rejected Arkady's propositions.
Though not even on the surface of Mars, Arkady in this one moment began and fueled a debate about their collective futures. It was the onset of a paradigm shift in some colonists' thinking, and foreshadows the direction some colonists would pursue later in their endeavor.
After Arrival
| The Mars Trilogy | |
| People |
Hiroko Ai • Arkady Bogdanov • Jackie Boone • John Boone • Phyllis Boyle • Frank Chalmers • Nadia Cherneshevsky • Ann Clayborne • Peter Clayborne • Michel Duval • Nirgal • Desmond Hawkins • Art Randolph • Sax Russell • Maya Toitovna • Zo Boone |
|---|---|
| Groups & Organizations |
First Hundred • Greens • Reds • Free Mars • Praxis • UNOMA • UNTA |
| History |
Timeline • 1st Martian Revolution • 2nd Martian Revolution • Second Renaissance |
| Culture |
Areophany • Viriditas • Gift Economy • Ecopoesis • Little Red People |
| Settlements |
Acheron • Bogdanov Vishniac • Burroughs • Cairo • Da Vinci • Dorsa Brevia • Echus Overlook • Nicosia • Odessa • Sabishii • Senzeni Na • Sheffield • Underhill • Zygote/Gamete |
| Areography |
Mars • Tharsis • Valles Marineris • Hellas • Argyre • Olympus Mons • Pavonis Mons |
| Satellites & Spacecraft |
The Ares • Clarke/Space Elevator • Deimos • Phobos • Novy Mir • |
| Kim Stanley Robinson | The Mars Trilogy | Other Works | |
