It has subsequently been argued, with some justification, that the Lunar citizens didn’t so much choose Mars as reject the O’Neill Halo. At that time, and to this day, the Halo was dedicated to the capitalist ethic, financial conflict and competition being the principal basis of its culture. And its reaction to Eden’s attempt to buy out the JSKP was hostile in the extreme (understandable given that so many of the Halo’s own companies were partners in the JSKP). The Moon, with its gentler and more cooperative spirit, was uneasy about joining with such a culture, preferring a more noble, humanistic approach to life; although physical separation from the majority of the Halo would have been maintained due to the different gravity environment they required, that multi-commercial arena was the one they would have been thrown headlong into, and in all probability they would have been assimilated and destroyed inside it.
Whatever their psychological reasoning, they voted instead to terraform Mars, with 78 percent in favor, 7 percent opposed, and the remaining 15 percent either don’t knows or abstaining.
As a result of this vote, Parliament immediately authorized two carbonaceous chondritic asteroid-capture missions. The national Lunar industrial steering committee had decided that their economic strength lay in their very size, a unified nation being a difficult force to reckon with. And they determined to use their wealth, such as it was, to retain their monopoly on supplying of water and nitrates to the O’Neill Halo for as long as possible.
The Moon’s subsequent switch to a pure Communist economy, and philosophy, is usually considered to be a result of this decision, although some political analysts maintain that the Lunar cities simply developed into the ultimate corporate state.
Pursuing this strength-through-size policy, Parliament began to nationalize the industrial facilities of every Lunar city over the next decade. By 2100 the Moon was effectively a Communist world, with every major economic asset owned by the State Industrial Institute (SII), and every member of the populace owning a voting share in the Institute. The SII was set up with a charter decreeing that a full third of its profits were to be used to fund the Mars terraforming project. That aside, it acted like a very large capitalist corporation competing in many commercial arenas. Most notably these were low-density structures, and micro-function supermolecules (the latter researched for their use in the terraforming project, and the precursor of today’s programmable silicon); but the LEB also managed to retain its monopoly on supplying the O’Neill Halo with water and nitrates until 2180, and even today it remains their largest single supplier.
Unlike the earlier Communist regimes of the twentieth century, noted principally for their brutality and totalitarianism, the Lunar government is a very benign culture. It is probably true to say that this is only possible due to the Lunar Constitution, which was enacted by a People’s Congress (itself electronic), held in 2096–7, that enfranchised every citizen with an electronic vote in every major parliamentary issue (curiously, in the current constitution the only proposition excluded from a total vote is one aimed at terminating the Mars project). The constitution decrees that a Parliament acts as the national executive, with a five-yearly Electronic General Congress (in which every citizen has a vote) as the ultimate national authority; it also allows for administrative power to be diversified to Mars as that planet’s population increases and the Moon’s population declines. Public freedom of information and a very rigorous civil-service watchdog agency, accountable only to the General Congress and not to Parliament, mean that the opportunities for mischief and personal aggrandizement so prevalent among earlier Communist politicians by and large no longer exist.
With both the economic and political mechanism in place, the terraforming officially began in 2103. All contracts issued by the Terraforming Office are taken up by Lunar companies, with subcontracting to outside companies kept to an absolute minimum.
Mars Terraforming: Timetable of Events
2091 Terraforming Office formed to oversee the entire project. Strategy formulation begins.
2103 Thoth base established on Mars, and industrial stations assembled at Phobos.
2105 Major geological survey instituted.
2106 Small (2km diameter) carbonaceous chondritic asteroid arrives at Phobos to provide raw material for biological refinery stations. Over the next four centuries sixty-five carbonaceous chondritic asteroids are consumed by the Phobos stations.
2108 Phobos biological refinery stations produce a genetically modified microbe to liberate oxygen from soil and rock, and begin seeding it into the planet’s atmosphere. Production is continuous.
2125 First carbonaceous chondritic impact mission started. The asteroid, named Braun, measures 15km in diameter.
2126 Start of comprehensive asteroid and Oort belt survey to locate large ice asteroids (20km+ diameter).
2139 Braun impacts on Mars equator, with colossal gas and energy release. Atmosphere completely saturated with particles, and average temperature raised 0.7° Celsius.
2140 Second carbonaceous chondritic impact mission started: Oberth.
2145 A microbe which produces chlorofluorocarbons (greenhouse gases) from soil salts is seeded by Phobos. Production is continuous.
2152 Oberth impact.
2153–2320 Twenty-two large carbonaceous chondritic asteroid impact missions.
2180 Carbon dioxide ice caps dissolve completely.
2200 Surface pressure 35 millibars.
2235 Photoactive longchain supermolecule (Artificial Life) produced by Phobos stations to extract nitrogen from subsurface nitrate deposits. Seeding begins.
2300 Surface pressure 80 millibars.
2310 First ice asteroid impact mission.
2310–2500 Forty ice asteroid impact missions.
2350 Improved nitrogen-extracting supermolecules produced at Phobos.
2360 First free water found in deep depressions.
2370 Slowlife introduced, being geneered organisms capable of functioning in a low-energy environment: lichens, worms, algae, and aquatic mollusks. Their primary function is to digest atmospheric carbon dioxide.
2390 Rain falls on Olympus Mons.
2400 Surface pressure 200 millibars.
2425 New phase of geneering to Lunar children, giving them enhanced lung capacity ready for Mars environment.
2460 Thoth city releases primary biota organisms into environment: hardy grasses, aquatic plants, fish, insects.
2500 Surface pressure 350 millibars. Average temperature 6° Celsius.
2510 Phobos biological refinery stations now given over entirely to extensive production of geneered bacteria to digest the remaining atmospheric carbon dioxide. Production of nitrogen-extracting long-chain supermolecules remains constant.
2512 Thoth city begins introduction of final ecology: high-order plants and animals.
2550 Surface pressure now 423 millibars, average temperature 11° Celsius. Mars officially declared habitable by Terraforming Office.
Subsequent History
Since the planet was made habitable, the originally expected exodus of the Moon’s indigenous population to Mars hasn’t happened. Although technically remaining one nation, there has been a perceptible sociocultural split between the two separate populations. The Lunar city inhabitants remain what can only be described as “cosmopolitan,” preferring the cultural heritage of their five-hundred-year-old cities to the more basic amenities of Mars. (Of course, were they transferred en masse to Mars then their culture would go with them, but such an enforced move would be contrary to their constitution. The only two times this was proposed in the General Congress, it was voted down by a large margin.) But, nonetheless, the population drift to Mars is continual, albeit small, and consists mainly of the younger Lunar citizens. At the current rate it will be another two centuries before the Lunar population is depleted to such a level that sustaining its highly artificial and technology-dependent cities becomes impractical.
The most often cited reason for this reluctance to transfer
is the somewhat uncertain future they face on Mars. Although this may sound completely paradoxical given the awesome nature of their accomplishment in manufacturing an entire world’s ecology, it is nevertheless a highly relevant observation. The total population base available to colonize Mars is only 6,000,000, which is extremely limiting. Just over 2,000,000 citizens remain on the Moon, 500,000 live in Phobos and Deimos, and the remaining 3,500,000 live on Mars itself, making it the most sparsely populated planet in the Confederation, bar stage-one colony worlds. Between them, this 6,000,000 can hardly develop the two planets’ economy along standard colony lines even if they abandon their commitment to Communism and let capitalistic growth run unchecked: they simply do not have the numbers to proliferate the way other colony worlds do during their first century of existence.
The easy option would be to open Mars to immigration. However, there are factors operating against this. Firstly, their ancestors dedicated five centuries of effort specifically so that their descendants could have their own habitable low-gravity world. Allowing an influx of outsiders at this time would be a betrayal of their forefathers’ trust on an inconceivable scale. Secondly, such an influx would inevitably destroy the entire nature of their chosen society. The Moon and Mars are virtually the only Confederation societies practicing pure Communism, and though it has served them extraordinarily well (indeed it is doubtful whether any other political ideology could have accomplished the terraforming of Mars), it is questionable that anyone not brought up in such a political environment from birth would be able to tolerate its doctrines. To outsiders, especially Earth dwellers (from whom any immigrant population would derive), they seem terribly restrictive. Indeed, there is already a growing trend among the youth born on Mars to question the traditional nature of their society. A disturbing number even appear to be almost rejecting the very inheritance of supertechnology which built their world, as well as the political heritage which made such a monumental task possible, and they are turning instead to a more primitive/spiritual philosophy.
The only conceivable way out of their current population dilemma would be to adopt a huge exowomb breeding program. There is a historical precedent in the Edenist culture, which used such a program to expand its population in the early years, and does still use exowombs quite extensively. Although this option has yet to be put before the General Congress, it is doubtful that it would be approved in the foreseeable future.
Physical Parameters of Mars
The Terraforming Office was renamed the Martian Bureau of Ecology in 2550, and was subsequently made responsible for reducing the carbon dioxide level to the optimum level of 1 percent, from that of 3.7 percent in 2610. This goal is predicted to be reached in 2630.
Vigorous planting schemes are in progress to reach this target, foresting vast areas with a variety of trees from right across the Confederation—the only world to follow such a policy. As there was no aboriginal ecology to disturb, such a mixture of plants was deemed acceptable, and desirable. Most Confederation worlds maintain a policy of minimal botanical contamination, with the exception of terrestrial food crops. Extensive prairie planting is also in hand on Mars. It is estimated that 70 percent of the land area has now been covered with high-order plants including mosses. The remaining 30 percent provides home to the older “primary biota,” and even some surviving slowlife organisms. There have recently been two proposals in the Martian Parliament that some of these areas should be declared National Preservation Parks, and be left in their original state. Both times these proposals were turned down, but only by a small majority.
There are no continents, as such, on the planet. Despite the forty ice-asteroid impacts, and the unfrozen polar ice, water is not an abundant substance in comparison to other terracompatible worlds. Seas form in craters as well as in natural lower levels. However, the equatorial zone, having been subject to a total of sixty-five asteroid impacts, is now an almost continual band of sea, with only a few narrow strips of marshy land preventing it from becoming a complete circle of water. Salinity is generally very low, with some of the crater formations being essentially fresh-water seas.
There is very little seasonal variation in the weather. The equatorial zones are temperate, with the higher latitudes possessing a climate equivalent to Scandinavian countries. The polar circles are defined as anything above latitude 50°.
Terrestrial crops such as wheat, potatoes, maize, oats, and barley are grown by the collective farms. Up to three harvests per (Martian) year are the norm. The fishing industry is well developed, a large number of different species having been introduced into the seas.
Physiology
Lunar and Martian inhabitants have all been geneered to a common design criterion, although the current physique was arrived at in two distinct phases. The first round of adaptations was begun in 2030, so that the Lunar city dwellers could live in a low-gravity environment. Some subtle modifications were made to their glands to offset the atrophy imbalances which occur from prolonged exposure to the Moon’s gravity. To prevent calcium depletion, their bones were made thicker than an average human’s, and they tend to be more thickly muscled, again to prevent wasting.
The second phase was initiated in 2425, when it became clear that the Martian atmosphere was not going to be of a terracompatible standard immediately after terraforming was complete, since there was an excessive amount of carbon dioxide, and the nitrogen ratio was well below norm. Therefore lung capacity was increased by 40 percent, which required some general enlargement of the ribcage and upper torso as well as expanding heart size to cope with the increased quantity of blood vessels in the bigger lungs. Combined with the earlier modifications, Lunar and Martian citizens now uniformly appear stocky and broad-shouldered with prominent chests, although most are actually of above-average height.
Although they can tolerate high gravity, prolonged exposure to it is tiring for them unless they have already spent over a year adapting. Inevitably, all their starship crews possess nanonic supplements, and their ships do not generally accelerate above 1.5 gees.
Economy
As mentioned above, the SII is run along lines similar to an ordinary commercial conglomerate. It owns shares in every industrial enterprise on the Moon and on Mars: these vary from large factories, which are owned in conjunction with local councils, to collective farms, and cooperative companies. Even individual (single-person) businesses, such as software-writing or design, are run in conjunction with the SII. And, in addition to the Lunar and Martian companies, it owns an extensive range of commercial enterprises across the Sol system and beyond: in manufacturing, raw material, refining, communication, and transport industries.
With the exception of the Edenist helium-mining operation, the SII is possibly the largest commercial concern in the Sol system. The largest and most important industries it administers are the LEB, which supplies water and other chemicals to the O’Neill Halo, and the factories which produce programmable silicone, in which the SII is the acknowledged market leader.
Interestingly, for a company run entirely by committed Communists, the SII is a ruthless competitor in both its local system and the interstellar markets. As it once had the unenviable task of making enough profit annually to fund the terraforming operation, it could never afford to be anything else than 100 percent efficient. But, now that the terraforming is essentially over, and only a fraction of the old Terraforming Office’s budget is required by the Martian Bureau of Ecology, a much larger amount of funding is available for industrial and social investment. The effect this has had during the last fifty years is quite obvious: the SII has expanded both its size and market share by over 4 percent annually, while economic growth rate in the solar system has remained around the 1 percent level for centuries. Both Lunar and Martian standards of living have risen accordingly. Although collectively wealthy, for the last 500 years their populations have endured a socioeconomic index which was the lowest in the solar system generally, purely because of the sacrifices ne
cessary to pay for the Mars terraforming project.
Now, though, with more hard currency available, they are becoming an important market for domestic consumer products. (The SII itself tends to concentrate on heavy-industry enterprises.) Import businesses are booming here, and foreign-brand goods are becoming quite a status symbol, particularly among the young.
Defense
The government must pay an annual contribution for the upkeep of the Confederation Navy. Thanks to various cooperative treaties, the Moon is part of the Govcentral strategic-defense network, to which it contributes financially, and many SII-owned industrial stations work on defense manufacturing subcontracts. The Strategic
Defense zone extends out to 2.5m km from Earth, and sensor coverage of it is absolute. Any starship which does not emerge within the designated zones will be intercepted in an average time of fifteen seconds.
The number of interplanetary ships carrying commercial cargoes between Earth, the Halo, Belt Alliance settlements, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars is also the largest number operating in any solar system. Govcentral, Jupiter, the Belt Alliance and the Lunar nation have formed a defense association which monitors all system-wide traffic for any instance of piracy. Such a concentration of warships and patrol voidhawks makes the Sol system the safest place to travel inside the Confederation.
However, Mars, with its small population and relatively low economic output (for an entire planet), has little in the way of defense capability. A standard starship emergence detector sensor satellite network is in existence, although the coverage only extends out to 250,000km. Both Phobos and Demos are protected by weapons platforms. Thoth city has laser defenses against atmospheric-penetration missiles.
The Confederation Handbook Page 8
