Colonization of Mars

Colonization of Mars first began in 1973 when the United States and NASA first announced the Ares Program: a manned spaceflight mission aimed towards landing men and women on Mars by 1985 at the latest. With the end of Apollo and the successful launch of Skylab both in 1972, Ares was meant to be NASA's next big step out into the solar system, especially as the Soviets ramped up their own manned spaceflight programs and landed on the Moon for the third time.

With a stable budget valued at 2% of the nation's GDP, NASA first designed and developed the X-22 Orbital Soarer alongside corporate partners, which was a spaceplane capable of reaching and operating dynamically in Earth's orbit when placed onto a Titan II rocket. NASA's breakthroughs in rocket reusability throughout the early 1970s meant that when combined with a radio-operated Titan II, the entire TX-22 launch system was fully reusable as well, and as such by Ares' beginning TX-22 launch costs were estimated at only $150,000,000. This low cost platform was used by NASA from 1974 to 1980 in the construction of Independence Station, a massive expansion over its predecessor in Skylab and one whose primary purpose was to act as an orbital shipyard for construction of more TX-22s and X-22s away from Earth's stifling atmosphere.

Construction of complicated systems like the TX-22 proved to be a major difficulty in orbit, however, given the lack of heavy machinery and other necessities that a ground manufactory has access to. Robotic arms added onto the station in 1981 helped remedy some of these issues, but by the end of the year the decision was made to abandon entirely independent manufacturing and instead shift to a philosophy of orbital assembly; that is to say, parts would be manufactured on Earth, sent up to the station, then eventually assembled together in orbit. This method paid off with the successful construction of TXE-22A *Endeavor* in 1982, whose first mission was to conduct a flyby of the Moon while carrying astronauts Larry Maxwell, Joel Barker, and Elliot Perkins. Further experiments were conducted on on the physiological affects of long-term space habitation up until the final development year of 1985, during which crucial modifications were made to the TXE-22 spaceplane hull to increase its resistance to radiation and add more effective whipple shielding to guard the craft from micrometeoroids.

1985 finally came, and after three years of intensive testing, NASA decided it was ready to complete its project goals and land a man on Mars, doing so with the launch of TXE-22C *Constitution* on November 16th, 1985. Commanding the craft was David Marshall, joined by pilot Gabriel Hoover and geologist Bradley Lawrence. The crew would spend roughly nine months in transit from Earth to Mars, televising as much of their journey as possible given energy constraints while using most of it to read or exercise to the best of their abilities with weighted bands and a treadmill installed onto the craft's floor. The crew would become somewhat agitated towards the end of the nine months - expected given the long travel times - but remained optimistic and prepared to be the first humans to set foot on the red planet. That they were, when they successfully detached their spacecraft from its Titan II booster, entered Mars' atmosphere with their thruster pointed towards the ground, and cautiously burned fuel until extending their craft's landing legs and settling themselves towards the surface. TXE-22C landed on August 26th, 1986, roughly five miles from the edge of the Mariner Valley near Saravan Crater. After resting for some ten minutes, all three men walked out onto the Martian surface, forever etching themselves in history. The American flag was raised over their landing site before tests began in earnest and the true goal of the mission began: determining with finality whether or not Mars truly had once housed surface water. Soil tests were ran and samples were received for further study on Earth, all of which served to decisively prove the decades-long theory of Martian rivers. The discovery of water evidence also gave credence to NASA's long-held wish of permanent Martian habitation, and was crucial in making the case to the powers that be of the practicality of such a colony. TXE-22C's return to Earth in May of 1987 gave even further proof as to NASA's success and the success of the Ares Program as a whole, which was soon expanded under President Jackson to include the development of a permanent human settlement on the red planet.