Sandra kolacz by AA School

Cover image: Invented Landscape, Sandra Kolacz (2011)

Image: Sandra Kolacz, Accessing Mars. (2018) 3D image of Mars. Constructed by generating a 3D landscape from GIS datasets and isolating two perspectives of the model as different colours, red and cyan. Please view this with the 3D glasses provided. 003

Welcome to Mars.

Personal Note: I hope you do not mind me scribbling here; I felt it was important to leave a message of gratitude at the earliest convenience, in what is to me the most appropriate format. I enjoyed my time at the Architectural Association tremendously. My nineteen-year old self could not have possibly imagined the themes, issues and narratives we would explore, interrogate and invent through discussions held on terraces, bars, staircases and ‘quaint’ studio spaces, which we delighted in groaning about constantly. I felt fortunate to have been exposed to frequent inspiration from such common encounters, and to be surrounded by the most gifted and passionate community I had the privilege of knowing. It was obvious, from the beginning, that one could never grow bored here. I have long suspected the impossibility of containing such energy of exchange to be a key reason for the ‘open door policy’ of the famed no. 36 entrance. We were enthusiastic and vibrant and extraordinarily disorganised but even that was part of the charm of the row of Georgian buildings on Bedford Square. I hope this thesis brings you as much happiness as it brings me. My final submission situates me on Mars in a writing style I’d never tried before, but before I depart I want to thank you for accompanying me on all of my space adventures thus far.

Thank you.

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Contents:

p. 09: Fifth Year /Thesis (2018): Lines in the Sand A projection of future experiences of humans in a Martian colony.

p. 27: Chapter 01: Apartment / Prison p. 35: Chapter 02: Assignment / Purpose p. 49: Chapter 03: Adjustment / Profit

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. . . . .

Lines in the Sand

. .

Sandra Karolina Kolacz

. . .

. . . Their boundaries were engraved like lines in the sand, vanishing as the waves washed over them, time and time again.

‘Pisane patykiem po wodzie’ – Polish proverb, translated:

‘Written with a stick in water’ describing an artificial agreement.

. . . .

. . .

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Image: NASA, Opportunity Looks Back After Hop to New Pad (2010)

Lines in the Sand .............................................................

Prologue: An Ego of Astronomical Proportions

It is inaccurate to refer to the ‘red’ marble, traversing our sphere from lens to lens, in isolation of our ‘blue’ one, without acknowledging the humanity we directly impress upon it. All ‘alien’ (in the true meaning of the word) conspiracy theories on the formation of complex sites and their architectures, including that of the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge, and the Nasca Lines, are inevitably simplified and condensed versions of our ego; each allegorical explanation offers a version of the cosmos first stemming from Earth before interacting with extraterrestrial civilisations, as if on our terms – an enduring practice not dissimilar from the days before Copernicus’ model of the universe physically dethroned humanity from the centre of the solar system. Copernicus’ studies provided us with an infinitely simpler, mechanical grid of the solar system to aid the conversation of the ultimate question, “what is life?” in a scientific sense, but paid little contribution to the increasingly ambiguous version, pertaining to the mundane social constructs we restrict our behaviours to that themselves form the very basis for scientific approach. In this way, mind and matter orbit each other, indistinguishable in their hierarchies. The ‘aliens ‘of the ancient world, capable of awe-inducing power structures were entirely human, but in our unavoidable disassociation with their social establishments and the resultant economy and technology, we have failed to understand their impressions - their lines in the sand - forever displaced by the relentless winds of the contemporary world. We are as alien to our ancient selves as we increasingly are even to our closest neighbours, as we are to the aliens we crave to contact, and the aliens we too become if human life reaches interplanetary extents. We have made our own lines in the sand on Earth, driven stakes into its soil and reformed timber in abstract announcement of claims over territory. As a species, we have proven our determination to occupy; to crawl into elaborate nooks and crannies, scale perilous mountains and their enclosing liquids and hinterlands, drudging sun-scorched grasses and terraforming it all away into our own urban, increasingly mechanical landscape, built out of necessity to stop antagonising adjoining, equally hostile existences. George Mallory eloquently summarised human incentive that has since echoed throughout history: “because it was there… a part, I suppose, of man’s desire to conquer the universe” 1 – his sincere, unapologetically primal reason for climbing Everest and the accompanying satisfaction of physically peaking.

George Mallory, response to a New York Times reporter in 1923, Accessed: 13th October 2017. <http://blog.theclymb.com/passions/explore/because-its-there-thequotable-george-mallory>

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Fig. 1: Timeline of Mars Landings, the objectives and the parties involved. Sandra Kolacz (2018)

In admittedly much less aspirational circumstances, friends boast about ferrying the elevator to the top of The Shard, Taipei 101, Burj Khalifa (etc.), marketed as an architectural ‘monument’ of cities forever, to preside not over nature (to be viewed laterally, it seems – take the Grand Canyon Skywalk Bridge as an example) but whatever it is we accomplished when we thought we dominated the original biosphere. Without yet pressing clumsy toes into the comparatively angry, hostile and barren surface, dream-laden novels, movies and documentaries have saturated our minds in marvelous speculation of our historically inevitable colonisation of Mars, currently estimated to occur at an average of the year 2020. Recently, this speculation – perhaps driven by the increasingly popular successes of Elon Musk and his exoplanetary pioneers – has taken a decidedly American, ‘Matt Damon of The Martian’ view of Mars that largely ignores increasing international state funding for the costly venture as well as the psychological implications of continued isolation from Earth; we admire the character of a heroic astronaut that persevered without acknowledging the critical, widely applicable issue of the quality of life and environment around him.

Fig 1. Timeline of Mars landings, the objectives and the parties involved.

The success of civilisations and the formula to maintaining a constant peak relies on the rate of expansion of a territory and it must continually expand to sustain its success. 2 By this definition, we haggle with Gaia and rely on the continued environmental mitigation of our own planet to buy us the luxury of terraforming another one, in idle hope of self-preservation, perhaps - to flee the damage sustained (to landscape and ego) as we unearth the depths of the contamination itself, having already pushed our World under the dusty rug of pollution and inconsequence, summoned by the distracting glare of a red beacon in the cosmic distance. Of course, the irony in this is that we unintentionally morph Earth into a dead planet like Mars and not the other way around – the association of Mars with the ancient god of war I am sure is not lost, in the current economy of vast military expenditures and skyrocketing costs of natural resources. But this notion of self-preservation is the least interesting reason by far. “If we can get to the moon, we can do anything” 3 – we might even do the unthinkable and decide to preserve Earth one day. But depositing a crew on the Martian surface means to peak again, with humans overcoming the realms of former impossibility. Certainly, if we arrive on Mars, it will not be to marvel at its forms and features but to once again introduce structures from which we can better view ourselves – they did leave a studded with one hundred mirrors on the Lunar surface after all 4. Mars would be the tallest outpost from which we could peer back at our civilisation, in our ego of astronomical proportions.

Norman Davies, Europe: A History (1996). Chapter I: Peninsula: Environment and Prehistory 3

Stephen Petranek, How We’ll Live on Mars (2015), page 4

NASA, What Neil and Buzz Left on the Moon (2017). Accessed: 14th February 2018. <https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/21jul_llr>

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Photograph: Threshold Project. Sandra Kolacz (2018)

At some point in the future, the lines in the sand will not exist as mobile rovers dissecting an iron oxide regolith, they will be the direct outcome of political bearings and economic pressures on Earth that inevitably influence our sister planet without ever reaching equilibrium. We will export politics and monetary structures to alien conditions, dictated by whichever organisation (private or state) is first to scatter the sand – this inevitably summons connotations of the colonisation of America, with comparisons drawn between crews choosing to disassociate with their nation of origin and the resultant strains characterised by the bloody call for independence. Before we ever commit the likes of Matt Damon to indefinite gardening, the boundaries – the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ – in which he would be abandoned need to be established. Despite its utopian undertones and in contrast to the myriad incentives contributed by the Mars One applicants 5, true territorial freedom and escape on Mars is an unlikely scenario, not least because it would mean severing the umbilical cord of technology sustaining our fragile presence. Indeed, the critical question of life on Mars is irrelevant – one could reasonably come to expect the ambition of humanity itself being the life on Mars. Orbiters and rovers have observed and traversed the planet for decades and exist as evidence of having visited but not of expressing presence upon the surface. Such acts are synonymous with territorial dominance, colonisation and ultimately of human nature and our architectures of control – all contextualised by expressions of human ego.

The following novella attempts to go beyond a commentary of historical events regarding issues of colonisation and occupation, and dares to explore a potential future for Martian humanity, written as a novella with found diary entries. It draws upon ideas of ego, innovation, ownership and error on a world forged by alien human hands.

Gerald W. Driggers, Mars Close to Home: The Case for a Mars Simulation in Earth Orbit (2015), page 32

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EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY, 2187 AD: Diplomats IV Crew, remaining members: no. 2303: no. 2701: no. 0742:

Cyril Mitchelson (U.K., 35 yrs, m) George Togepi (CzR., 25 yrs, f) Vincenzo (It., 157 yrs, m)

MISSION: Mars Mining Corporation workforce for the extraction of mineral substances on the surface of the planet, for production on Earth.

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“Why do you write?” Cyril asked, “It will never be transmitted to Earth.” “I am a writer for myself, and a story-teller for the Others. I need to share our adventure.” insisted George. “What’s the point? Why bother?” “Why not?”

And from the back of the cabin, Vincenzo drew an obnoxiously long sip of tea from a cushioned pod. “slurrrrp... that, there! That’s the point, Cyril. Let the girl imagine…”

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Painting: Stone Architecture on Mars, Demonstrating Marsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Two-Thirds Less Gravity Than Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Chesley Bonestell (1956)

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CHAPTER 0: New Worlds Log book entry: George Togepi, (E.S.A.)

Sol 19752, 17:22PM Mars local time.

Worlds are made even more restless when they’re boring. We are periodically reassured of the corporation’s humanitarian potential, which exists not in the relationships between beings themselves but the promise of discovery that keep us alive. What a time… ‘to be alive’.

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Sol 19752, 17:28PM Mars local time.

“Honey, I’m home!” shouted Cyril, wiping down his orange overalls, long smothered with the coughs and galactic expulsions of the Mars Mining Corporation. A spindly hand gripped the carefully carved entrance frame and examined the latest export of humanity’s ambitious endeavour into the extraterrestrial. “…George?” “Yeah. That one,’ she said, pausing for a deep breath “that one sure is a funny one.” “Well,” he hesitated, still standing by the entrance to the Median Chamber. “Are you… are you okay?” “Protocol 695 for Space Psychology prohibits such-“ “Okay. Fine. What did you do today? Are you making your log book personal again? Why?” “I don’t know,” she said. Then regretfully, “I know we’re not supposed to. Please don’t tell.” Cyril shook his head in silent agreement, leaving zipping sounds and peels of orange as he approached the aluminium table to sit opposite her. He pulled a tiny plastic wrapper from his insulation layer and after gesturing his offer, allowed George to continue. “Sentimentality is dangerous and all, but I can’t help but feel something after Vincenzo found that diary.” Cyril said nothing. Then, breaking eye contact, he tutted. “I’m sorry Cy, but I’m convinced that we’ve only just scratched the surface of it… what? What is it?” It wasn’t out of character for Cyril to offer help, sit and converse, or to keep others’ secrets. Cyril could be trusted and was considered highly competent by The European Space Agency – it was the primary reason he had been selected for the mission to mine Mars for minerals alongside funding from Planetary Resources Inc., 6 a private Dutch company that lobbied Obama’s government to pass questionable Space Mining Laws in 2015, 7 while casually ignoring an array of 1960/70’s Outer Space Treaties. 8 It was his hesitation to speak, comfort and to keep what could be perceived as his own secrets that made George nervous, and she quickly urged him with her filling eyes.

Planetary Resources timeline showing Obama’s Asteroid Resource Property Rights bill. Accessed: 19th February 2017. <https://www.planetaryresources.com/company/timeline/> 7

In reference to the PUBLIC LAW 114-90-NOV. 25, 2015 article, clause 51302 for the Commerical exploration and commercial recovery of space resources. It states, ‘A United States citizen engaged in commercial recovery of a space resource [water and minerals]… shall be entitled to any asteroid or space resource obtained, including to possess, own, transport, use, and sell [it]... free from harmful interference.’ 8

Please refer to the diagram (A) that includes information on Earth and Outer Space boundary laws.

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Visualisation: Olympus Town, Mars Colony. Pixoloid Studios for National Geographic’s ‘Mars’ TV series (2017)

“I have something for you” he whispered, turning to the back of the plastic wrapper. George leant forward, then held it to the skylight with squinted eyes. “What is it?” “Shh. It’s a ‘twig’.” “A twig? A twig of what?” She shook the packet violently, observing the object’s confined movement before skinny fingers steadied her hand and landed it back at the table. “It’s a twig. A real twig.” “A wooden twig?” “Yes.” A moment passed, noting the increasing intensity in the already obscure Median Chamber, suspended in darkness if not for the modest skylight permitting a current of exhausted waves 9 from the centre of what was rather humorously named the ‘Milky Way’ thousands of years ago. 10 Sometimes red dust would violently blanket regions of the planet, damaging equipment and infiltrating supply, but with the recent Calm and Cleaning Event 11 arrived again the consent for workers to explore the surface, repair apparatus and transfer data to Earth. It was on one of these occasions that Vincenzo discovered the Diary. The handwritten account, alongside other articles obtained by the Diplomats IV crew had gone unreported, and though long ignored by nations seated comfortably in the exclusive palace walls of Earth, this remained a serious breach of the Moon Treaty, 12 however inconvenient an old State signature was. As the god of War twisted through night and day, so too did George in her bed and Cyril with his rizla, while Vincenzo thought on between sips of tea how best to explain away his principle involvement. “Cyril, I don’t understand. Why do I need this?” “I suppose you don’t, but it’s from outside.” “From the Earth planet?” “No, you’re not listening. It’s from outside.”

It is darker on Mars than Earth as it is further from the Sun. Source accessed: 8th September 2017. <https://www.firsttheseedfoundation.org/resource/tomatosphere/ background/sunlight-mars-enough-light-mars-grow-tomatoes/> 10

From Latin. ‘The Romans got the name from the Greeks, who called our galaxy “galaxias kyklos” or “milky circle”. Source accessed: 20th December 2017. <https://gizmodo.com/how-the-milky-way-got-its-name-and-what-other-language1201204037> 11

‘Wind speeds exceeding 20 m/s are responsible for the removal of dust [on equipment] during the ‘cleaning events’. Mars Journal, Pancam and Microscopic Imager observations of dust on the Spirit Rover: Cleaning events, spectral properties and aggregates, page 129. 12

The Moon Treaty of 1979 banned the expression of sovereignty on a celestial body, banned exploration unless agreed to by all member states and declared all samples obtained as shared property. These conditions are ignored. Source: Wikipedia.

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Mars Surface

A pointed finger indicated the world above them, figuratively and literally, to the chloro-contaminated and uncomfortably regular terrain immediately beyond the safety of the lava tunnel Median Chamber. George considered the mountainous, crater-scarred copper landscape and looked again to the pointed finger, itself resembling the twig in the packet. “Then we do need this,” she insisted, clenching his hand with the twig still between them. “And you need to see these.”

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‘Let us prepare ourselves to escape, to continue life and rebuild our cities on other planets: we shall not belong on this Earth.’ – Ray Bradbury to Oriana Fallaci, Planetary Echoes (2017) page 27.

Chapter I : Prison.

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CHAPTER 1: Matter Over Mind Diary entry: Errol Simpleson, (E.S.A.) Sol 2035, 16:06PM Mars local time.

Since the events of last week have been captured and processed, we have been instructed by our superiors to keep a diary of our lives here so as to not succumb to the pressures of severe isolation from Earth, diagnosed as ‘cabin fever’. 13 It seems to me a superfluous exercise given the extensive limitations in describing the mission beyond the postcard reports relayed between orbiters spanning the impossible distance from here and before. We view the blue planet as the tiniest spec, impersonal and indistinguishable from the glowing debris of surrounding stars, much less the admirable oceanic marble than the blue hue at the end of a buzzing tunnel of space junk. This morning I am alone, but I have already received my ticket of mining orders from that place. Here’s something interesting. When you’re on the outside and imagine that, for one reason or another, you may have to spend several years inside a 3d-printed dome 14 with a chain gang of similarly pretentiously-labeled ‘scientists’, you think that you wouldn’t be able to stand it, it would be too hard to bear. And yet, as you can see, it is bearable. At least I’ve been able to bear it. I don’t deny going through moments of despair, when you start figuring and it adds up to today’s confinement multiplied by thousands of days. Still, the body adjusts better than the mind. The body is the first to grow accustomed to the new schedules, to its new postures, the rhythm of its needs, its new exhaustions, its new rest breaks, its new activities and non-activities. 15

(cont.)

‘Lassitude, irritability and similar symptoms resulting from long confinement or isolation.’ Definition source: Oxford Dictionary 14

Foster + Partners have been working on a NASA-backed competition for a 3d-printed modular habitat on Mars. Accessed: 13th December 2017 <https://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/mars-habitat/> 15

Mario Benedetti, Springtime in a Broken Mirror (2018), Chapter 1, Intramural (Tonight I am alone)

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Everything is so definite, predetermined and calculated that one wonders how we could survive in such a world if not for the Dream of escape 16 egging us on, or indeed how we could flee a landscape so plain in existence that a desire for structure must be fulfilled in forms of extensive system administration festering beyond concerns for safety while hiding beneath them. I would describe the landscape as I shuffle on in weighted shoes making my lines in the sand, but the romantic Hollywood movies framed the view better. We were promised a familiar dream, ‘to stake out frontiers in utterly unchartered lands… to [embark] on a gigantic steeplechase into the unknown.’ 17 Here’s what I do know, Sally. If there ever was life on Mars, we have not found it, 18 and if we do, we are destined to try to control it in the celebrated name of Exploration. Some days you are told you’re a hero, but on others, the mind dwells…

Fig 2. Photograph of a sunset on Mars captured by Curiosity rover.

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Please refer to the diagram on p.45 describing the reasons applicants provided for

wanting to live on Mars. It is informed by Gerald Driggers’, ‘Mars Close to Home’ and condenses the eighteen reasons given into two key points: real property and escape. 17

REVEAL Africa, Africa A Voyage of Discovery in HD. Accessed: 14th December 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytgacA-R8N4> 00:18:40 18

Spectroscopy results indicate no large life forms on the surface of Mars.

Barry E. DiGregorio, Spectroscopy the Search for Ancient Life on Mars (2005), page 50.

“What was that?!” whispered George, her concern tearing through the pages and commanding them shut. Vincenzo had stumbled into the Chamber without noticing the crudely tucked diary, hastily stuffed between silver pockets of edible space stuff. 19 He hovered by the buzzing entrance of identification sensors. “Go on then,” Vincenzo groaned “tell us what’s happened.” He raised his head only as far as the flask of herbal tea on the nearby table, the impatience of sleepless nights evident before the end of the sentence. A calloused hand swatted the pressurised air. “Bah! I can tell what it is. It’s all that mumble-jumble, I bet. ‘Space is a corporate conspiracy, we’re imprisoned here on Mars or something like that? I don’t need to hear it from you two – I lived through it with that Earthling Elon right at the beginning: ‘We Musk Go To Mars’! 20 Heh, what a character.” His voice adopted an almost cheerful tone, though the face did not follow. Cyril and George exchanged uncertain looks. They watched Vincenzo shuffle towards the glimmering silver and pour into himself, eye contact unbroken while uncertainty festered. Her fists clenched as she asked the already irritated old man what exactly it was he meant by that. “slurrrrp. Oh, come off it. We’ve obviously all been muffed by the diary. I don’t know where it is now-“ “It’s in-“ “And I don’t want to know where it is. Look at how much tea I’m drinking! It’s like I’m at the Mad Hatter’s… oh.” He shook his head and paused. “I had nothing to do with the document. I did not find it, I do not know where it is (I never did) and I did not give it to you. We did not speak about it. Do you know what that is?” “W-what is that?” followed George, now nervous. “It’s a secret! That’s what that is. It means we rewind. slurrrrp. Earth rewinds all the time, there are no cycles. Those are myths. Cycles imply that all events are equal, and always in the same order. We’ve never traced that circle back and considered history of equal importance. Humanity rewinds – we care only for the beginning, for the frontier, for innovation… and we are constantly redefining what that beginning is. On Mars too, we’ve rewound. You’re part of a broken tape, stuck on this dot and not another one. Think about it then come back when you’re hungry. Those processed parcels have been an incredibly lonely experience.” “I’m not part of a broken tape” mumbled Cyril, the tiny twig firmly embedded within the trenches of his fingers. It squeaked, begging for attention.

The French company A.D.F. developed with G.E.M. 11 recipes for the European Space Agency in a research project defining nutrition for long-duration missions. Most of the diet should consist of nine basic ingredients which could grow in greenhouses on other planets. They are: rice, onions, tomatoes, soya, potatoes, lettuce, spinach, wheat and spirulina. Source: E.S.A., Meals for Martians. Accessed: 13th December 2017. <https://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEMQ8F1DU8E_LifeinSpace_1.html> 20

Entirely fictional campaign, invented for the purpose of this thesis.

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Fig. 2: Photograph of a sunset on Mars captured by Curiosity rover. NASA (2015)

… slurrrrp. The filter refused to synchronise with the heating system that clinked and clonked its own hostility and dismissed Vincenzo’s patience. The Sun ascended the bleak Martian horizon staining it a scattered blue 21 and echoing the vastness of Earth’s oceans, the depths once traversed in search of History itself. 22

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N.A.S.A., NASA’S Curiosity Rover Views Serene Sundown on Mars (2015). Accessed: 03rd November 2017 <https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4581> 22

In search of glory and the authority to accredit a nation with an accomplishment. James W. Cortada, in his Renaissance and Reformation article Who Was Christopher Columbus? (1974) page 99, states ‘Italians wanted to claim Columbus as their own to take credit for his achievement. To a Castilian Spaniard, such a thought was revolting since the reign of Ferdinand and Isabel represented the greatest and most exciting chapter in Spain’s history and to grace it with a foreigner became inconceivable.’

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‘But Mars is not like [Earth]. It is continuous, seamless and sealess. Its great mountains stand alone; there are no sweeping ranges, no Rockies or Alps or Andes. The rivers are long gone. There are no continents and there are no oceans, and thus there are no shores. Given patience, provisions and a pressure suit you could walk from any point on the planet to any other. No edges guide the eye or frame the scene. Nowhere says: Start

Here.’

– Oliver Morton, Mapping Mars (2003), XII.

Chapter II : Purpose.

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CHAPTER 2: Exploration Diary entry: Roman Komarov, (Roscosmos) Sol 3689, 12:31PM Mars local time.

There are at least 4 seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter that were exported with us when we arrived, but we forgot to account for the impossibly long durations of these cycles upon retrofitting. ‘Winter’, the harshest of all, 23 proves ever difficult to endure when the New Year is separated from Christmas by 6 months. 24 At least you’ve more time to prepare the presents to send, if you can manage the biohazard quarantine as I had instructed. We have, as I am certain by now you are aware from the network coverage, 25 established ourselves within the northern vicinity of Olympus Mons, the long admired and contested peak 26 of the solar system, to the anguish of the Europeans. Perhaps it was always to be the starting point of colonisation… nobody quite remembers the dreary crater from which we first set foot as the glorifying moment humanity conquered the cosmos. We do not remember the shores of American occupation, without the architectures imposed once said civilisations established what they had considered an accurate enough portrayal of themselves. That is their fabricated ‘beginning’, established by the undenyingly objective context of present circumstances. I have no doubt that history will re-write itself again if our situation were to change, energised by the ‘by the way’s, ‘but before that’s and ‘that’s not what I meant’s. I often wonder, my face pressed against the convex glass, if we underestimated the scale of the endeavour, to inhabit a landscape yet to be understood, equipped with a general interest in Exploration only.

(cont.)

On average, the temperature on Mars is about -80C in winter, -125C near the poles. A summer day on Mars may get up to 20C near the equator and -73C at night. Tim Sharp, What is the Temperature of Mars? Accessed: 11th February 2017. <https://www.space.com/16907-what-is-the-temperature-of-mars.htm> 24

A year on Mars is almost twice as long as a year on Earth. Source: N.A.S.A., The Length of a Year on Mars. Accessed: 11th February 2017. <https://mars.nasa.gov/allaboutmars/extreme/martianyear/> 25

‘Bringing such scenes to a wide audience could break up the feeling of stasis that has afflicted national space programs since the 1970s.’ James R. Kass,, Mars One: Humanity’s Next Great Adventure (2016), page 148. 26

‘Mauna Kea, Earth’s biggest volcano, would fit into the huge crater at the summit of Olympus Mons wit room to spare.’ Oliver Morton, Mapping Mars (2003), page 39.

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There is no unified plan regarding our objectives here by any of the stationed organisations, 27 so the temptation to plot a historical line of best fit continues through the discoveries of the then comparatively alien ‘New World’ in America to the entirely alien New World on Mars. The at times deliberate inaccuracy of colonial records and the convenience with which settlers were provided to forge their own histories in projection of their future is reason enough to suspect the authenticity of our mining objective here and how it is reported on Earth. Could there be some other incentive that the crew is not aware of, the possible real reason for our imposition on Mars and crossing of system boundaries? We need only look at the Treaty of Tordesillas, the ambiguous Medieval agreement between Spain and Portugal, to accept that any colonisation and the stretching of cartographic lines is a matter of fancy rather than academics – Mother Nature has pronounced all the borders she intended. But couched in vague, contradictory half Latin, half Spanish terms, the famous Papal line of demarcation gave Spain ‘all territory to the west of the meridian one hundred leagues to the west and south of the Azores and Cape Verde.’ The fact that the Cape and the Azores islands were many degrees apart appears to have been overlooked by the Pope and his advisers, or ignored by them. 28 The treaty legislation conceded ‘full sovereignty of all lands discovered or to be discovered and conquered in the New World found by Columbus’, 29 disregarding remaining states in Europe and disregarding too the indigenous populations that dared call them home before experiencing them a prison.

Fig 3. Map of the Treaty of Tordesillas.

Early exploration readily accommodated such surveying anomalies that have not transferred into the New World of Mars. We are traced and tracked continuously via orbiter and rover, our lives an elaborate dataset to be interpreted, manipulated and reinterpreted again back on Earth according to the mood. Who knows what it is we really stand for back there, or here?

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N.A.S.A., E.S.A., Space X and Mars One vary in their budgets, timelines, objectives and funding mechanisms; my impression is that no one can quite say when or how Mars will be visited by humanity, and if it will ever be colonised. 28 Mary

Wilhelmine Williams, The Treaty of Tordesillas and the Argentine-Brazilian Boundry Settlement, The Hispanic Historical Review (1922), page 4 29

John Bigelow, The Earliest Diplomatic Documents on America: The Papal Bulls of 1493 and the Treaty of Tordesillas Reproduced and Translated, The American Historical Review (1930), page 372

........................................................ Sol 3690, 11.05AM Mars local time. I thought more on yesterday’s. A distinction must be made between the former and current Dream of Mars: one navigated by patriotism and wonder during the first Age of Space Exploration 30 , the other, by private corporations utilising the Age of Individualism 31 to offer tourist packages 100km above the Earth – to ‘Outer Space’. The ‘out’, at least as a concept, has always been very well defined; whether we are 401,000,000 km away or dangling only 100km above the marbled surface, we are still not withiIN Earth and therefore, by default, positively withOUT it. We considered that orbits determined by humankind, on which man-launched objects are moving, constitute the beginning of life in space, life beyond the Earth. Accordingly, the conquest of the orbital sphere as the beginning of a new way of life beyond the Earth was perhaps just as important as the beginning of life on Earth millions of years ago. The beginning of the Orbital Age marks nothing less than the beginning of the transfer of life from Earth into space, and eventually into the cold black deserts of the Universe, 32 but for years humanity struggled to express itself upon the surface of the external planet. We did not consider remote sensors – the orbiters and rovers – an accurate representation of ourselves due to their technological independence, pre-programmed operations and ability to function remotely. 33

(cont.)

The Space Age is generally considered to have begun with Sputnik (1957) and apparently stopped with the end of manned spaceflight, under the Obama administration’s budgetary scalpel. Source: Ross Douthat, New York Times, The Age of Space. Accessed: 23rd March 2018 <https://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/theage-of-space/> 31

‘The rise of a new, powerful individualism that could not fit with the idea of collective political action. Many became a new type of individual who watched the decaying city with a cool detachment. They didn’t try and change it; they just experienced it.’ Source: Adam Curtis, BBC, Hypernormalisation (2016). (00:08:01) 32

Lukas Feireiss and Michael Najjar, Planetary Echoes (2017). Extract by Peter Weibel, Earth’s Gravity and the Orbital Age, page 32. 33

Kurt Schwehr, Autonomous Rover Navigation (2009). Accessed: 15th March 2018.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr58r0b5LKM>

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Could we consider, then, that it is exactly in our differences, errors and inaccuracies that we present ourselves? When producing cultural media such as a painting, we express ourselves at the resolution of a paintbrush: the technique used, the thickness of the bristles, the density and pigmentation of the paint and the inevitable abstraction and personalisation of reality. In photography too, a camera shake indicates the process of man having committed an error and thus, without a doubt, of first having been and second, of having been man.

Fig 4. Diagram of errors produced in cultural media.

But we cannot have error on Marsâ&#x20AC;Ś or per

h ap s We Ou ght

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`Fig. 3: Map of the Treaty of Tordesillas, Alberto Cantino (1502) 041

Photograph.: Alexander McQueen plays Papillon, a prisoner on Devilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Island, a French penal colony. Today, it is the location of the ESAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s launch facilities. Columbia Pictures (1974)

The enigma of the dribbling question mark poured onto their faces. George flicked back and forth between them in idle hope of further discovery. “What do you think they meant? What’s ‘error’?” “I’m not sure, George. It doesn’t sound positive, someone snatched the diary from him, look.” Cyril positioned the twig between his thumb and forefinger and, placing his hand against the sheets of the book, mimicked a sudden downward motion above the smudged ink. “Outdated technology now.” His head turned in thought. George angled over his shoulder, arching to the same view. “I don’t see anything, Cy.” “Mmm. It’s the error. It’s right there.” “Per-h-aps We Ou-ght to?” “Yes. ‘Perhaps we ought to’ introduces the error. It does not continue.” George squinted an eye. “But… what does humanity have to do with smudged ink? It says we are the error. And it compares the Martian conquest to a treaty that Europe either subscribed to or didn’t.” “Yes, yes, you’re right.” He nodded, humming through a clenched fist. “The smudging of lines and territorial agreements… it was deliberate! It’s the ‘in’ and the ‘out’ of navigating unchartered territories, of course!” Cyril announced suddenly, springing towards the research network – a beacon labeled ‘HOLOGRAM’ reluctantly clinging to the wall and covered in dust despite endless cleanliness warnings. “The smudging of lines on maps to protect territories... that’s it!” he exclaimed, smashing nimble fingers against the beacon’s miniature control centre wildly. “Or control them.” George quickly added, shifting to the pod beside the developing show. “I’m still not convinced.” “You’re never convinced. It’s why you’re always worrying… now, do these things still take 20 minutes 34 to send messages across the Milky Way or are we in the 22rd century yet?!” A sharp click nulled her approaching sentence. Cyril was pointing the Hologram beacon towards the Chamber’s red walls, flashing a distorted beam that radiated from his palm and disseminated into George’s eyes. “Argh! Stop it! What are you doing?! I said STOP!” “Look, George-” “Argh! I literally can’t, you little-”

European Space Agency, Time Delay Between Mars and Earth (2012). Accessed: 07th October 2017. <http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2012/08/05/time-delay-between-mars-andearth/>

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Fig. 4: Diagram of errors produced in cultural media. Sandra Kolacz (2018)

Fig. 5: Diagram of Mars One’s ‘Reasons to go to Mars’. Kolacz (2018)

BEEP, BEEP!

The beacon turned towards an adjacent wall, and George turned a bitter face towards Cyril. “George, we’re supposed to be the ‘out’. It’s as the diary described: the people in the Hologram projections are supposed to be ‘in’, they’re the humans on Earth.” “Yes, so?” she hissed, rubbing her eyes deliberately. “We knew that when we left. I’m not offended.” “Did we know?” retaliated Cyril, passing a damp tissue from the crooked First Aid station. “What if… we’re not actually out? Could we really leave, could we really cross boundaries?” “We’re on Mars.” “Yes, but think about it, will you? We have not left. We cannot. It is impossible – Earth is here with us. If you wanted to leave this complex, could you hijack a spacecraft and embark on a mission, unassisted by the corporations that sustain our lives? Could I change my role, could I make a purely emotional decision? Do we make any decisions at all here? You know, the ancients thought you could only truly exist when you made a decision, and a decision meant an active change to express presence, not to continue monotonously as we do. 35 Do you know who cannot make autonomous decisions? Slaves. Slaves, and technology. Technically, both do not exist, so they’re difficult to track.” He slumped his face back into the creased comfort of his fist. “Well, that sounds like a convenience for The System...” the other voice mumbled. George could not decide between his saddened or distressed expression. “It’s what these diaries are about. Do you remember?” he asked, continuing without delay. “The primary reason 200,000 people applied for the 2012 ‘Mars One’ mission 36 was to make the biggest decision of all: to escape Earth, to really feel… alive, to make an impact. In the simplest terms, an issue of ego, I suppose – to matter, and to have the freedom to make these material and cultural impressions. Now, we discover that the Dream of escape on Mars doesn’t exist. In those terms, we are in the most advanced high tech. security prison in The System, George. There is no out in this Tordesillas – it’s not a line this time, we’re circled within.”

BEEP! BEEP! </Processing complete> Repeat offence! Word identified, ‘escape’. ERROR: you cannot escape. Please remain inside the Chamber at all times unless otherwise instructed by your daily mining duties. BEEP! BEEP!

Fig 5. Diagram of Mars One ‘Reasons to go to Mars’.

Explanation provided by Gleb Sheykin in a conversation about his project.

‘In the 5 month application period, Mars One received interest from 202,586 people from around the world.’ Mars One, Over 200,000 apply to first ever recruitment for Mars settlement. Accessed: 15th July 2017. <https://www.mars-one.com/news/pressreleases/over-200000-apply-to-first-ever-recruitment-for-mars-settlement>

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‘I’ve never been to Mars, but I imagine it to be quite lovely.’ – Cosmo Kramer, Seinfeld. – The Pilot (I), written by Larry David.

Chapter III : Profit..

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CHAPTER 3: Space Invaders Diary entry: Luke B. Rain, (N.A.S.A.) 8223 Sol, 0843 Mars. The translation of the first day on Mars to the current was rather erratic; our vision of the World developed in a very distant manner to the vision assumed by the groups that delivered us: N.A.S.A., Mars One, Space X, E.S.A., Roscosmos, J.A.X.A., etc. Money always possessed the power to derail and offset any trajectories stamped and signed into place with the slide of a dense palm across a mahogany table. This truth is imposed by humanity wherever it goes; the tables are aluminium here, but the heavy hands remain. There was once a proposal to terraform Mars, to plant CO2– absorbing trees 37 and make it more accommodating of human life. Powering our rockets to inhabit a distant World, we would be the frontier of civilisation, the heroes driving a glorified home removal van, but when terraformation estimates arrived at 200,000+ 38 years, they were plagued by anomalies confusing results about our eventual freedom to breathe sans tricky space suit. The Dream was substituted for the mining of minerals and periodic relaying of photography. There is no tourism here. You’d be mad to travel 6 months on a one-way journey to watch us bounce around, middle fingers raised to the Earth (and at you) until you depart, multiple orbits complete, in time for the next planetary Opposition two years later. 39 This will never make the distance but please, I beg you to stay at Home, on Earth. There is nothing here, and it cannot be helped.

Fig 6. Diagram of orbital spheres plotting Earth against Mars.

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‘If we can generate an artificial planetary temperature increase of about 10C… Mars could be transformed from its current dry and frozen state into a warm and wet planet capable of supporting life… we might not be able to breathe the outside air straight away, but simple hardly plants could and would thrive in the carbon dioxide-rich outside environment… and would spread rapidly across the planet’s surface… to introduce oxygen into Mars’s atmosphere.’ Robert Zubrin, How to Live on Mars: A Trusty Guidebook to Surviving and Thriving on the Red Planet (2008), page 146 38

Gerald W. Driggers, Mars Close to Home: The Case for a Mars Simulation in Earth Orbit (2015), page 41 39

‘The time between Earth-Mars oppositions (launch windows) varies between 765 and 800 days, over 2 years.’ <http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/mars-oppositions.htm>

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........................................................ 8285 Sol, 0809 Mars. Should I scribble this large or small?

We will terraform the God of War ourselves.

Sixteen of us, to start, though it means opposing those sustaining our lives, however miserable an existence. This is not the Mars experience we agreed to. So, true to human nature, we will alter the environment to suit our needs. We require a life of fulfillment, of the freedom to cross boundaries, explore beyond the Complex, and a genuine chance at forging ourselves in the image of Earth – a recognisable home. When a frontier feels like home, it is no longer a frontier. It has become ‘civilisation’. 40 The biohazard quarantine has grown lazy after confirming the lack of life on Mars decades ago, 41 but the initial disappointment, marred further by a large cut of funding, was accompanied by a significant benefit in the ease of transporting biomaterial from which to seed our flora. A shallow crater of mineral inconsequence has been selected for the purpose and the allotment is monitored regularly for signs of growth, mining shifts allowing. Eventually, we will introduce enough trees to breathe autonomously on Mars without the umbilical cords of restricted movement pumping weak oxygen supply and company report cards looming over us. It is no doubt an ambitious undertaking and we continue under no illusions. Anticipating failure as part of this scenario is not far-fetched; in fact, given the number of complex parts, it is statistically probable. 42 Terraformation, the process of planetary engineering by which the surface and climate of Mars would be deliberately changed to make large areas of the environment hospitable to humans 43 must rely on generational upkeep.

(cont.)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Going Home. Accessed: 27th January 2018. <https://blogs.nasa.gov/letters/2012/06/29/post_1340980951001/> 41

‘In the 1800s, scientists thought they could see straight lines… joining greenish areas covered by plants with canals built by Martians. Spacecraft pictures have shown that these canals do not exist. There is no sign of any life – plants or intelligent Martians – on the planet.’ E.S.A., Life on Mars. Accessed: 4th April 2018. <https://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEMR09WJD1E_OurUniverse_0.html> 42

Gerald W. Driggers, Mars Close to Home: The Case for a Mars Simulation in Earth Orbit (2015), page 8 43

James S. J. Schwartz, Ethics and the Environment (Vol. 18, No.2) , On the Moral Permissibility of Terraforming (2013), page 1

Consequently, the effort cannot be contained and must be adopted gradually, over a period of time likely to surpass the original estimate. Regardless of the inevitable conflict of interests, if hundreds of miners were to engage, planting their trees in the sand, would the Earthlings dare disengage, severing oxygen provisions and terminating resupply spacecraft? We have already taken precautions. Earth often forgets about celestial spaces after the first waves have been captured and the first sentences enshrined. It is possible that we have already faded into insignificance, casually demoted from galactic leaders to their step-in-liners. We have been working on a ‘Dust Mite’ (DM), a mirrored, spherical shell with a weighted core designed to sail across the surface, sewing chaos while sowing flora! From the view of the Orbiters above, the Mite appears to tear the landscape as the mirrored surface causes scattering in the reflections of the laser altimeter within the spacecraft. The Rover should also encounter difficulty in identifying it – unrecognisable objects are avoided as it traverses the dust. It was suggested, years ago, that it is exactly in our capacity for error, inaccuracies and therefore invention that we present ourselves in our environments. We must not have critical error on Mars, but we must have the Dust Mite. Often, we view anomalies in The System as an item to remedy. But we too are anomalies within the solar system, an anomaly that we hypocritically desire to replicate infinitely into the far expanses. To colonise a territory means to express a presence upon it that architecturally, cultures have stated through their monuments; the Dust Mite is our monument. It is a monument to imprisonment, slavery, and corporate exploitation – the most fitting monument to humanity and how its problems magnified too on a distant landscape viewed through the lens of a telescope. Mars is the furthest outpost from which we can observe ourselves, but I’m not convinced anyone is really looking – only standing by like guards at an entrance policing this visibility. We all wanted to be visible when we felt it was on our own terms, when we felt we could escape it. But there is no escape, even on a barren rock this far away. If freedom is the power to cross a boundary or forge our own, then the Dust Mite is our boundary: it draws our lines in the sand. It says, ‘Stop Here..’

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Fig 7. Image of the Dust Mite

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8337 Sol, 1 62

2 M

PLEaSE HELP They hav e bee n plot Tin g ‘IN’ an d ‘OU T’. .. I le a v e thi s to you ViN C e NZ o...

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Fig. 6: Diagram of orbital spheres plotting Earth against Mars. Martin J. Powell (2013) 055

Model: Dust Mite. Sandra Kolacz (2018)

“Vincenzo?!” exclaimed George, eyes darting into Cyril’s. “Vincenzo,” echoed the voice, “heard you engage The System. What was the word? slurrrrp … ‘Escape’?” The old man had anticipated graceless silence, but not to see the diary so soon. The tattered article sat plainly in Cyril’s hands, announcing nothing yet everything at once. It emphasised the moments of the World: Earth, Mars and everything in between, themselves included, and it dawned on them all that the content of the diary could not be overlooked as lesser inconvenience – it represented a decision: to continue evasively, or to distribute the account as an object of warning. He shook it, glue barely gripping the pages as the diary struggled to maintain composure. “You know something we don’t know.” Cyril said sternly, “I demand you tell us.” “I make the demands here, and I don’t recall you answering my question.” George had been observing the strained exchange from the comforting warmth of her heated pillow. She was not built for confrontation, but intervened to declare a measurement. “Cyril… Cyril, The System did not react when Vincenzo said the same word you had, did you notice?” “Exactly,” smirked Vincenzo suddenly beaming, “because you see, it-” Before he could complete the sentence, Cyril leapt onto him, tangling himself around the struggling miner like the shoelaces on a tired boot. The third joined in to unwrap the noise, mindful of her slight frame yet determined to partition them. “Enough!” drilled through the nonsense, sending one to the far end of the room and the other to the opposite, flask in hand. Cyril hastily examined his pockets for the twig. “slurrrrp.” “Vincenzo, please could-” “What’s he searching for, hmm?” he interrupted. “Don’t give me that face. We’re fighting, we’re split, my flask comforts me and his comfort is in… what? What’s as important to him as my tea is to me?” The room waited long enough for the clinks and clonks to seep through again. “Come on!” he ordered. “You’re… you’re here… to trap us!” Cyril finally yelled. “You dismiss conversations about it, discount the diaries about imprisonment that you’re mentioned in and have had some key part in the programming of The System to recognise the ‘E’ word. I would urge you to think before you respond with lies.” His clenched fist extended before him and hovered, hesitating for a moment before spreading open. The twig rattled on the metal tabletop, a small sound that still managed to be heard within the clattering Median Chamber. “Where did you get that?!” shot through the air, composure abandoned until a hand, warm from the pillow, touched his back persuasively and expelled a sigh. “It was supposed to be kept secret… I was there,” whispered Vincenzo. “I was there when the flora sprouted, it was the first twig to our collective nest. Like you, I wasn’t told exactly what the Mars mission would involve, or why I was chosen by the Earthlings to go among many.

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Photograph: The System. NASA, Apollo17 Lunar Lander (1972)

How did they put it? A ‘calling from God in servitude to humanity’ that none of us could possibly believe. But how do you reject it? It was all televised. I would be turning my back on planet Earth not to go, and then there would be no return even if I had stayed. slurrrrp. You might expect a society advanced enough to send a man to Mars to believe in the science enabling it, but it clung instead to the nature of the expansion and fled to a self-invented God that damned them all.” Vincenzo shook his head, eyes rolling so hard that George almost shook his head to check if they were coming back. “It’s not fair to ask, ‘is this the right thing to do?’ after the fact, and then blame test subjects if a changing context alters the impact of the results. It didn’t stop organisations from sending manned mining missions, obviously, but it did further strain proposals for terraformation.” He spotted Cyril’s revolving, orange hand gesturing him to get on with it. “slurrrrp … After training there was no formalised pat on the back or review of our competency. We were not prepared for the psychological impact of having left Home. This was not a business trip to a different city, when you miss your apartment, your home, family. This was about missing Earth as a whole. It is a completely different emotion… this,” he paused, now admiring the diary, “is more than nostalgia.” 44 Vincenzo signaled his interest in the document with an outstretched hand, and knowingly turned to the pages at the end. “When I flew, I asked the psychologists to send with the resupply ship pictures of Earth. Just views of nature: forests, rivers, little birch trees, mountains. I hung all of this around the module, so it would be more joyful. You grab onto it with your gaze, look at the little birch tree, and things get easier. 45 From such a distance, we were overwhelmed by the realisation of how dependent we are on the Earth and everything in it. It’s called the Overview Effect.” 46 He watched the four worn photographs as if they were animating before his eyes; wind combing the trees, a breeze stroking a lake, suspended snowflakes dancing before gently settling on the softness of a childhood winter jacket.

National Geographic, What Did This Cosmonaut Miss About Earth After a Year in Space? Accessed: 9th March 2018. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28YI9p6NBk8> 45 National

Geographic, What Did This Cosmonaut Miss About Earth After a Year in Space? Accessed: 9th March 2018. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28YI9p6NBk8> 46

Lukas Feireiss and Michael Najjarm, Planetary Echoes (2017) page 52. Excerpt by Frank White: ‘The Overview Effect is the experience of astronauts in orbit… in which they see the Earth as a whole system and realise that there is a connection and dependence of everything on the planet, including human beings.’

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Photograph: Mining NASA, Apollo 16 (1972)

There was no life to announce the seasons on Mars, and often before the carbon dioxide snow had a chance to reach the ground, it vapourised into virgae streaks. 47 “…But what happened?” erupted Cyril, unfazed by George’s sharp jab in the ribs. He looked up to them and a crippled smile laboured his face. “What I wanted to say – before the pointless, irrational and irresponsible interruption – slurrrrp, was to point out to you both that I have control of The System.” “Are we supposed to be impressed that it isn’t triggered by the ‘E.’ word?” The old man sat up after letting the statement settle him smugly into his pod. “W-well, no… of course that’s –” “So you mean we can escape?!” added George, pulling to edge of the table starry eyed.

BEEP! BEEP! Word identified, ‘escape’. ERROR: you cannot escape. Please remain inside the Chamber at all times unless instructed by your daily mining duties. BEEP! BEEP!

“I-it’s only a temporary measure, you know, if we ever wanted to… oh.” He paused. “The System resets periodically to prevent errors from developing!” insisted Vincenzo, stabbing buttons to counter Cyril’s raised eyebrows and arresting arms. “After we were the first to arrive on Mars, we were accommodated for, welcomed by a watching audience and communicated as entertainment on the Mars One channel for the Earthlings.” 48 He drew a deep, defeated breath. “But the incredible monotony of life even as the first inhabitants of Mars spread like a virus that all our technologies and effort could not contain, and the channel was soon abandoned with us. slurrrrp.” He shrugged, examining the enclosing Chamber. “I tell you, it doesn’t take long to feel like you’ve crystalised here, become part of a ruin on a distant rock. It got to us – by the time the other crews arrived, we’d had enough.” George and Cyril nodded their encouragement. “It doesn’t take long to persuade a man on Mars. slurrrrp. There are no alternatives. slurrrrp. A man knows what he wants quickly and it certainly isn’t to disintegrate sitting on a false Dream. That’s not a Hero’s Story.

Gemma Lavender, Space Answers, It’s Christmas on Mars! But does it snow on the Red Planet? Accessed: 2nd January 2018. <https://www.spaceanswers.com/solarsystem/does-it-snow-on-mars1/> 48

‘Producers wanted to get a variety of emotions to improve the show for viewers… so what did they do? Starve us. Deprive us of sleep. Keep us dirty. Induce anxiety through fear of the unknown.’ Cindy Chiang Halvorsen speaking about her experiences in reality TV. Mars One: Humanity’s Next Great Adventure (2016), page 145.

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Fig. 7: Images of a traversing Dust Mite with â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;landscape tearingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; caused by incorrect Orbiter readings. Sandra Kolacz (2018)

That’s not what Explorers were about… and y’know, once you have a cabin of wounded men, frustrated, it doesn’t take long before they start figuring…” “…Figuring?” “Figuring how to escape. If not the planet, the situation. Terraformation seemed like the obvious option, and the only obtainable reality.” “Terraformation was realistic?” blurted Cyril, amused at how far scientific knowledge must have progressed since the old man was dispatched. “Don’t talk to me like I’m a fool.” Tutted Vincenzo. “We realised it was the only reality we could forge ourselves. With each shuttle the arrivals appeared like pixels in a corrupted image, until we could conceive the Mars missions as nothing more than a technological chain gang of deliberately selected personality types 49, condemned by Earthlings and removed from their society to be exploited on Mars by mining corporations, posing as governmental institutions or private enterprises – but it’s the same overall.” He pulled at his orange overalls and pointed to the assortment of logos on his (and their) chest, smiling. “Free labour” he continued, “makes you a hero, so we have a rather glamorous role. Do you think they know our names back there?” He chuckled grimly, choking on the tea. “slurrrrp. Of course not. So, as you can see, terraformation and the Dust Mite were the only hope of obtaining some level of control of our lives so we’re not in debt; to wander unobstructed, consume our own food and exist unmonitored. We wanted to rewind too, and the Mite would’ve helped us substantially. You both know how it works, don’t you, slurrrrp?” He hesitated to wait for what seemed an obvious response, but was met by George’s shrugging shoulders and Cyril’s ambivalence. Cyril gently lifted the twig back off the surface of the table as Vincenzo continued. “The laser altimeter aboard the Orbiter works by sending laser pulses that strike the Martian surface and are backscattered. From the return pulse, it can determine a precise measurement of the range from the spacecraft to the Martian surface by measuring the time it took the beam to return, and with accurate tracking of the spacecraft’s location, it – slurrrrp – builds a map of the Martian landscape. 50 The Dust Mite’s mirrored surface induces further scattering to the point of territorial disfigurement in its dataset. We designed it to introduce error, to conceal the flora allotments and of course, to shield ourselves by constraining the tracking of our New World against the Earthlings’ relentless plotting of their ‘ins’ and ‘outs’.”

Fig 7. Images of a traversing Dust Mite with ‘landscape tearing’

‘No doubt about it. One-way Mars travelers will be the 21st-century pilgrims… instead of the traditional pilot/scientist/engineer, Martian homesteaders will be selected more for their personalities…’ Norbert Kraft, James R. Kass, Raye Kass, Mars One: Humanity’s Next Great Adventure (2016), page 69 50

Djxatlanta, Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA). Accessed: 3rd March 2018. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-_Q9lmy2Fo>

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Fig. 8: Anomaly. For hundreds of years, the Tree of Tenere in the Sahara Desert was considered the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most isolated tree and was revered as sacred. The closest tree was 400 km away. In 1973, a drunken truck driver hit and killed the tree. Michael Mazeau (1961)

George watched Vincenzo draw himself closer to the twig, still fastened between Cyril’s fingers, and he began to speak to it as if the wood could listen. “That isn’t just a twig. It is the beginnings of man’s first made tool – the rocks were always there. A twig made sustainable food source, the primitive hut, the first spear, the first controllable warmth, it was used to draw lines in the sand and to keep creatures within those lines; then, the twigs escorted us across oceans as wooden ships. A twig on Mars is proof of humanity’s having been here, and of humanity’s having taken control.” “Vincenzo,” asked George gently, “why are you still here? Why didn’t you get out in the end? You speak so much about it, maybe if you– ” “Sorry George, I thought it was obvious – we could not find a way ‘out’. Even if the Dust Mite hadn’t jammed itself against a rock, even if The System control from Earth hadn’t then destroyed our flora allotments and we found a way to leave the complex, we will never be free. We will never escape the pull of Earth’s gravity.” Cyril looked up from the twig, paying close attention to the words exchanged. “…There are only intricate variations of ‘in’. You have to understand, there’s barely anything to mine here; 51 the real mining happened when they tore us out of the earth and sold us to Mars – so I stay within the complex, avoiding mining duties. They don’t have any questions for you if you stay inside. It’s when you try to go outside that they really draw you in, and then you’re ‘in’ more than ever. The enthusiasts don’t understand what it is.” He shook their shoulders violently. “Did you not get any warning about coming here, at least from the glittering Dust Mite?! It should have served as a… lighthouse of sorts, slurrrrp, a beacon illuminating the unknown.” “No. We did not.” Cyril mumbled wearily, heading past the orange mining overalls and back in through the door of the Median Chamber. “Perhaps you should have been paying closer attention!” Vincenzo shouted after him. “We did everything we could, short of writing a bloody book on escape!”

BEEP! BEEP! Word identified, ‘escape’. ERROR: you cannot escape. Please remain inside the Chamber at all times unless instructed by your daily mining duties. BEEP! BEEP!

Fig 8. Anomaly

51 Traces

and measurements of carbon dioxide, calcium, iron, magnesium, silica, sulfates, clays obtained from TES analysis and rover sample readings – the minerals on Mars are predominantly basalt, a volcanic rock. There are not many minerals of interest for Earth product consumption. Joshua L. Bandfield, Global Mineral Distributions on Mars, N.A.S.A. Godard Space Flight Centre (2001), page 8

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Opposite image: Chamber â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Passage Sketch, Sandra Kolacz (2011)

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‘Martian’ illustration from H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds (1897)

Lines in the Sand .............................................................

Epilogue: Solar System Border Control

It is difficult to refer to the ‘red’ marble, traversing our sphere from lens to lens, in isolation of our ‘blue’ one, without acknowledging the humanity we directly impress upon it. Before visiting the planet, we have already appropriated it in our minds and invented its identity, quenching a longing sense of familiarity and idle attempts to discover the unknown, to explore and to conquer: ‘one of the Copernican ways in which Martians [could] make the planet Mars a world like the Earth was to make it a place experienced from the inside, a site for subjectivity. Without minds… Mars and other planets were ‘mere masses of matter’ – places without purpose, frightening voids. With minds, they were Worlds.’ 52 The fantasy of landscapes and civilisations on Mars has an extensive tradition, particularly in science fiction, informed by perspectives forged on Earth; indeed, it is likely you will have read Lines in the Sand with a preconception of Mars, of whether humanity should visit, stay or abandon its missions, and which citizens should compose its original, and eventual, cohort. In the first half of the twentieth century, projections often committed an extraplanetary and (in essence) human utopia, or apocalyptic threats via an uninvited Martian captor. Edgar Rice Burroughs imagined a partly medieval and partly Native American-inspired society on Mars described in no fewer than eleven volumes published over half a century, from The Princess of Mars (1908) to John Carter of Mars (1964). H.G.Wells’s Martian attack on Earth in War of the Worlds (1898) was translated into a radio drama broadcast by Orson Welles in 1938, to be mistaken for the news of the day by a panicked audience. 53 In this vein, perhaps the exploration of Mars and its contents is better experienced from the comforting distance of pseudo-interaction, particularly as we are not yet entirely sure what exists within. 54 Part of the excitement, surely, must lie in the grey mist of uncertainty, where colonies, scientific discovery and even the possibility of terraformation could exist. Lines in the Sand repeats these primitive issues of control that limit imagination; control is instinctive, a common heritage of human nature, and it cannot be shared regardless of the insistence of organisations maintaining an opposite truth. In a more personal context, instructing a guest to ‘make [themselves] at home’ is less an invitation to genuine co-dominance of the space and more an elaborate ‘welcome’ – the authority to invitation itself stems directly from a position of power.

Oliver Morton, Mapping Mars (2003), page 13

Ursula K. Heise, Martian Ecologies and the Future of Nature, Twentieth Century Literature (2011), page 452 54

‘The Martian atmosphere is the origin of many possible hazards to both humans and equipment. The unknown thermodynamic properties… represent risk… major dust storms may also affect EDL and adversely affect a human explorer’s ability to perform extravehicular activities.’ Joel S. Levine, Dust in the Atmosphere of Mars and its Impact on Human Exploration: A Review of Earlier Studies (2017), page 4

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For this reason it is critical to understand who might be inviting us to a home on Mars and what their unbreakable house rules may be, particularly in an environment where leaving, bargaining alternatives and fantasising about anarchy are not possible. We cannot be sure under which circumstances a Mars colony will develop, but one can reasonably assume the potential human outcomes for Mars when arranged against countless years of Earth habitation dominated by a desire for control and dominance. Mars may be an alternative World but, 54.6 million kilometers away and presented as a red dot on the telescope from where you and I sit, it may not be a better one.

Fig 9. Image of Planet Earth against Mars

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Fig. 9: Images Planet Earth and Mars. Mars (dia. 6790 km) is only slightly more than half the size of Earth (dia. 12750). Mars does not support life. 071

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CHAPTER X: Imagination Diary entry: George Togepi, (14 years old)

Earth year 2018, 17:22PM GMT +1.

Mama, wouldn’t it be amazing to live and die on Mars? You told me there is no dream so great that it should not be chased. Seeing the Mars One applicants come from normal families like ours means that I could do it too, and I know you’ll be proud of me. I could run on the planet in a space suit looking for signs of life together with the crew, and we’d be close friends because there wouldn’t be many of us so we would have to get along. Lorcan said he would apply with me when I get around to it and now I can’t imagine going without him. On Mars there would be no fences telling us where we should go and how to behave in a place because it wouldn’t belong to anyone so we would be free to explore where we want and make new discoveries and inventions all the time. I would probably miss Earth but I think in the future they will let people come back after they visit so we can all share our stories and make both planets better. We would eat interesting space food from tubes like the ones in the Science Museum. I know you always say I’m picky with food but I think it would be different on Mars. I remember we bought some Astronaut Ice Cream once to try with dad and it was amazing, they were little fluffy cubes that melted on your tongue and tasted like real strawberry ice cream. I want to bring Barney but I don’t think they would let me. I know you would worry about me but I would be happy being on Mars and you always say to do what makes me happy. Maybe one day I will be famous and you will be happy I went to Mars too. I will try my best mama, I really want to go to Mars.

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Gardeners have green fingers. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Explorersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; have grey fingers. 073

. . . . . .

Lines in the Sand

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Sandra Karolina Kolacz

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. . . ‘Did the Pilgrims on the Mayflower sit around Plymouth Rock waiting for a return trip? They came here to settle. And that’s what we should be doing on Mars. When you go to Mars, you need to have made the decision that you’re there permanently. The more people we have there, the more it can become a sustaining environment. Except for very rare exceptions, the people who go to Mars shouldn’t be coming back.

Once you get on the surface, you’re there.’

– Buzz Aldrin, Vanity Fair, July 2010.

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Just views of nature: forests,

Rivers, 077

Little birch trees,

Mountains. 079

Bibliography:

Books/Articles:

Barry E. DiGregorio, Spectroscopy the Search for Ancient Life on Mars (2005) Gerald W. Driggers, Mars Close to Home: The Case for a Mars Simulation in Earth Orbit (2015) H. G. Wells, The Time Machine (2005) James W. Cortada, Who Was Christopher Columbus? (1974) James R. Kass,, Mars One: Humanity’s Next Great Adventure (2016) James S. J. Schwartz, Ethics and the Environment (Vol. 18, No.2) , On the Moral Permissibility of Terraforming (2013) John Bigelow, The Earliest Diplomatic Documents on America: The Papal Bulls of 1493 and the Treaty of Tordesillas Reproduced and Translated, The American Historical Review (1930) Joshua L. Bandfield, Global Mineral Distributions on Mars, N.A.S.A. Godard Space Flight Centre (2001) Lukas Feireiss and Michael Najjar, Planetary Echoes (2017) Mars Journal, Pancam and Microscopic Imager observations of dust on the Spirit Rover: Cleaning events, spectral properties and aggregates (2015) Mario Benedetti, Springtime in a Broken Mirror (2018), Chapter 1, Intramural (Tonight I am alone) Mary Wilhelmine Williams, The Treaty of Tordesillas and the Argentine-Brazilian Boundry Settlement, The Hispanic Historical Review (1922) Norbert Kraft, James R. Kass, Raye Kass, Mars One: Humanity’s Next Great Adventure (2016) Norman Davies, Europe: A History (1996). Chapter I: Peninsula: Environment and Prehistory Oliver Mortion, Mapping Mars (2003) ‘Cabin Fever.’ Definition source: Oxford Dictionary PUBLIC LAW 114-90-NOV. 25, 2015 article, clause 51302 for the Commerical exploration and commercial recovery of space resources Robert Zubrin, How to Live on Mars: A Trusty Guidebook to Surviving and Thriving on the Red Planet (2008)

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Stephen Petranek, How We’ll Live on Mars (2015) Ursula K. Heise, Martian Ecologies and the Future of Nature, Twentieth Century Literature (2011)

Websites: E.S.A., Meals for Martians. Accessed: 13th December 2017. <https://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEMQ8F1DU8E_LifeinSpace_1.html> E.S.A., Time Delay Between Mars and Earth (2012). Accessed: 07th October 2017. <http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2012/08/05/time-delay-between-mars-and-earth/> E.S.A., Life on Mars. Accessed: 4th April 2018. <https://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEMR09WJD1E_OurUniverse_0.html> Foster + Partners, Mars Habitat. Accessed: 13th December 2017 <https://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/mars-habitat/> George Mallory, response to a New York Times reporter in 1923, Accessed: 13th October 2017. <http://blog.theclymb.com/passions/explore/because-its-there-thequotable-george-mallory> Gemma Lavender, Space Answers, It’s Christmas on Mars! But does it snow on the Red Planet? Accessed: 2nd January 2018. <https://www.spaceanswers.com/solarsystem/does-it-snow-on-mars1/> Gizmodo, How the Milky Way Got its Name. Source accessed: 20th December 2017. https://gizmodo.com/how-the-milky-way-got-its-name-and-what-other-language1201204037> Kurt Schwehr, Autonomous Rover Navigation (2009). Accessed: 15th March 2018. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr58r0b5LKM> Mars One, Over 200,000 apply to first ever recruitment for Mars settlement. Accessed: 15th July 2017. <https://www.mars-one.com/news/press-releases/over200000-apply-to-first-ever-recruitment-for-mars-settlement> (NASA), Going Home. Accessed: 27th January 2018. N.A.S.A., NASA’S Curiosity Rover Views Serene Sundown on Mars (2015). Accessed: 03rd November 2017 <https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4581> N.A.S.A., The Length of a Year on Mars. Accessed: 11th February 2017. <https://mars.nasa.gov/allaboutmars/extreme/martianyear/> <https://blogs.nasa.gov/letters/2012/06/29/post_1340980951001/> Planetary Resources timeline showing Obama’s Asteroid Resource Property Rights bill. Accessed: 19th February 2017. <https://www.planetaryresources.com/company/timeline/> Ross Douthat, New York Times, The Age of Space. Accessed: 23rd March 2018

<https://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/the-age-of-space/> The First Seed Foundation, Sunlight on Mars. Source accessed: 8th September 2017. <https://www.firsttheseedfoundation.org/resource/tomatosphere/ background/sunlight-mars-enough-light-mars-grow-tomatoes/> Tim Sharp, What is the Temperature of Mars? Accessed: 11th February 2017. <https://www.space.com/16907-what-is-the-temperature-of-mars.htm>

Lectures: The Royal Institution of Great Britain, Astrobiology: The Truth Is Out There (07.11.2016) The Royal Institution of Great Britain, Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal The Cosmos (11.09.2017) University College London, Convincing Lyell: Darwin, Wallace, and the Great Transmutation Debate (14.10.2017)

Exhibitions: Barbican, Into the Unknown: A Journey Through Science Fiction (05.08.2017)

Programmes/Movies: BBC, Aliens: The Big Think (06.07.2017) BBC Horizon, Mars: A Travelerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Guide (12.09.2017) BBC, Adam Curtis, Hypernormalisation (10.10.2017) Youtube, How To Live on Mars (25.08.2017) Youtube, REVEAL Africa, Africa A Voyage of Discovery in HD (14.12.2017) Youtube, Nat. Geo., What Did This Cosmonaut Miss About Earth After a Year in Space? (09.03.2018) Youtube, Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (03.03.2018) 20th Century Fox, The Martian (2015) Warner Bros, Blade Runner (1982) Cosmo Kramer, Seinfeld. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Pilot (I), written by Larry David

Competitions: Eleven Magazine competition, Planetarium: The Experience of Space (11.08.2017)

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Thank you for visiting.

Sandra Karolina Kolacz, Lines in the Sand. 2018.