Martian Colony Settlement RP

[TTNoobs]

Colonial Mars

Concept Images

Introduction of Concept

The year is 2053. The precarious nature of Earth, wrought with tumultuous climate change and split into petty, combatant nations has made it it abundantly clear that the birthplace of humanity can no longer guarantee our safety. To a few astute minds, the need for another world is obvious. The heads of six space agencies, ESA, FKA, NASA, JAXA, CNSA and ISRO have banded together, and, after years of lobbying their distracted governments, finally secured the means to acquire it.

The Homesteader project - fired by the economic engines of the most affluent countries on Earth - seeks to establish a foothold for humanity on another world. Mars.

Using capsules of CFCs, a deadly pollutant on Earth, The Honesteader Project has bombarded the Martian atmosphere for ten successive years. The greenhouse effect is a potent one, and now jets of sequestered CO2 spew day and night from the cracked soil and into the vacuous air. Mars, slowly but surely, is returning to life.

Now, a team of settlers are being prepared for the first of tri-annual missions to Mars. Carried with them are a host of extremophile plants, ready to be seeded and spread across the red planet's barren expanse. In so doing, the first step to a breathable atmosphere is embarked upon.

But this team will also need to have a kinship, for they will be isolated from Earth for years on end. Who will be chosen?

Available Factions

European Federation - ESA - ESA is the government space agency of the 10 year old European Federation. They specialise is rover design and heavy engineering.

Japan - JAXA - Specialise in robotics and automation

United States - NASA - Excellent all round technologists. Massive military budget has inadvertently give them expertise in space-suit design and propulsion.

China - CNSA - Owing to the smog problem faced by Beijing in the early 2000s, CNSA specialise in environmental systems

India - ISRO - Specialise in computing

Russia - RKA (Roscsmos) - Specialise in habitat design
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What is this RP?

This RP is a settlement RP based around the construction of a Martian colony. Our characters will be scientists, or others with relevant skills, tasked with helping make Mars liveable. The emphasis will be on character interaction, with opportunity for social conflict. You may play as any sort of character, but they must be employed by the five major agencies listed above.

The RP will begin with our landing on Mars, followed by our characters making their way to the pre-prepared Martian habitat, a simple structure with 12 bedrooms, an airlock and equipment bay, a greenhouse, a medbay, a basic lab and a kitchen, but much expansion is required.

EDIT: Oh, and there's no need to make this RP technicial, quite the opposite, I'd like it to be about exploration. I happen to be an Engineering Student, but prose talking about engineering would be very, very, very boring to read.

I hope this peaks your interest :)

[Kingfisher]

This looks positively original. A man is interested

[Rain]

I just don't do group Roleplays after some bad experiences but you've won this time you magnificent bastard. I'm in.

[Dymion]

I'll give this one a shot.

[ClocktowerEchos]

Possibly intereted. To anyone who decides to be a botanist, go pick a real science :P

[Rain]

To anyone who decides to be a botanist, go pick a real science :P

@ClocktowerEchos

Hey now, them tomatoes won't grow themselves you know!

[TTNoobs]

Great - am I to take those who have liked the op But not posted as having expressed their interest?

[Rain]

I don't think Rose was expressing interest as much as she was supporting the idea. Jbcool might be game, dunno.

[White Feather]

I'd like to express interest

[TTNoobs]

I'd like to express interest

@White Feather

Then do!

[Admiralkio]

Color me interested.

[Bishop]

I'll be from ESA with the special mission of exploring an underground tunnel system that was found on Mars. Maybe all the scientists from the different organizations can gather for exploration. I will be a special agent trying to get as much info as possible from you all while we explore and at the same time I will be your "bodyguard"= the only one visibly* carrying a weapon. So in other words it's me trying to squeeze out information from you all with different conversations(maybe it will escalate later) while we discover new things in the tunnels.
Every time I question one of you about something the others back me up also showing interest since they too want to get as much information out of the other organizations. Hope this seems like a plausible idea to you.

[TTNoobs]

I'll be from ESA with the special mission of exploring an underground tunnel system that was found on Mars. Maybe all the scientists from the different organizations can gather for exploration. I will be a special agent trying to get as much info as possible from you all while we explore and at the same time I will be your "bodyguard"= the only one visibly* carrying a weapon. So in other words it's me trying to squeeze out information from you all with different conversations(maybe it will escalate later) while we discover new things in the tunnels.
Every time I question one of you about something the others back me up also showing interest since they too want to get as much information out of the other organizations. Hope this seems like a plausible idea to you.

@Bishop

It's interesting, but it wasn't really the direction I want the RP to take. I want this to be as much about colony-building as anything else, and I really don't want to get into the sort of ancient-alien "hidden tunnel" sort of storyline. Mars is sterile, and has been for quite some time. Perhaps the team might discover some old bacteria, but any life on Mars will be from Earth in this RP, certainly not sentient. I will follow the scientific consensus, and that is that no life capable of building could ever have existed on Mars. If by "tunnels" you meant some sort of old, organic underground waterway that's dried up over time, then that'd be a different matter. I very much like the idea of a massive expidition, and am open to the possibility of other Martian bases around the surface.

I also doubt that anyone would be allowed to bring a weapon on the trip. The cargo wouldn't be handled by the crew prior the launch, and the presence of a gun seems completely unnecessary. If the agencies have invested so much money into this programme, they want it to succeed. The theory of cabin fever has scarcely been documented, but the fear of it setting in would mean nobody would allow their particular passenger to carry a weapon. Not to mention, firing it would likely kill everyone, as it would pass through the walls of the habitat and expose it to Mars' thin atmosphere.

Not to put down your idea, it's a fine one, I just happen to prefer a less dramatic approach. That's not to say, however, they you can't play a character trying to learn all about the technology of the other agencies, but since they have to co-operate, almost all of it would be open shared with you, anyway. Europe and ESA especially, being a super-state, are unlikely prone to nationalistic endeavours and trying to do-one-over the other participants.

[ClocktowerEchos]

EDIT: @TTNOobs stole the words out of my mouth

[TTNoobs]

NOTE: The talk of spies made me realise that I forgot Russia (sorry, Putin). They have been added to the list of factions

[ClocktowerEchos]

NOTE: The talk of spies made me realise that I forgot Russia (sorry, Putin). They have been added to the list of factions

@TTNoobs

This actually kinda reminds me of Beyond Earth which also leads me to wonder if there would be a sort of African Union space program. Maybe they'd specialize in hydroponics or something?

[TTNoobs]

<Snipped quote by TTNoobs>

This actually kinda reminds me of Beyond Earth which also leads me to wonder if there would be a sort of African Union space program. Maybe they'd specialize in hydroponics or something?

@ClocktowerEchos

I don't know - I suppose countries like Nigeria are expected to have exceptionally powerful economies in the next 50 years, so it would be a shame to leave them out. African countries would likely have had to solve their food and drought problems, too, so I see no reason why they wouldn't have expertise in agriculture.

I'll add them in their own right once I look into it a bit more. Off the top of my head, Nigeria or South Africa are the most likely candidates, though.

[ClocktowerEchos]

@TTNoobs

Like I said, it would be like an African Union/Fed like the European counterpart, doesn't have to be a single nation.

[Chromane]

I'd also like to express interest. This sounds like it'll be a blast.

[TTNoobs]

@TTNoobs

Like I said, it would be like an African Union/Fed like the European counterpart, doesn't have to be a single nation.

@ClocktowerEchos

That's an idea, too, I just wonder if African nations are as close to federalising as Europe is. I know there's a fiscal Union ATM. I suppose realism isn't too important here, but I don't want to be far fetched either.

Are you thinking of a character from Africa?

I'd also like to express interest. This sounds like it'll be a blast.

@Chromane

I hope so too, welcome!

I'm going to hold out for two or three more expressions of interest before I make an OOC. I've had some bad experiences of threads getting s lot of interest, and these not converting into CSs.