“Mars, a planet of mysteries.”

From the Martian colony, teams of astronauts chart courses and set off on multi-day expeditions. Rolling through history living within their roving homes, traveling inside HABs, portable habitats on wheels, they venture to key ‘Expedition Sites of Discovery’ to study vanished waters—and silent volcanoes.

“Mars holds the secrets of the cosmos, we are just beginning to listen.”

The explorers face small dust storms that form in a matter of hours, impacting the expedition solar arrays. While larger, planet-encircling dust storms develop over weeks.

Meridiani Planum, where the Opportunity Rover once explored, is rich in hematite—suggesting past water activity—and is a key region for understanding the history of water on Mars and the potential for past life.

Gale Crater, the landing site of the Curiosity Rover, features layered deposits indicating a possible history of water. The crater’s central mound, Mount Sharp, holds sedimentary layers which hold records of past climates.

The largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, is a monument of geological history—a place for studying Mar’s volcanic activity and the effects it had on the red planet’s climate.

Back on Earth, solar scientists monitor the Sun for sunspots and magnetic field configurations to warn the explorers of solar flares. It takes 13 minutes for the first wave of radiation to hit the surface of Mars.

“In Mars’ silence, we unearth its history.”

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The astronauts are on a 6 month journey to Mars.

A number of them are now dreaming in low gravity. They are floating, flying, and leaping great distances. These weightless dreams and simulated worlds feel more vivid and realistic, than when on Earth. Some dream of being on Earth, and feeling the heavy gravity.

But the first night of the journey was disorienting. After the high stress mission day of launching into parking orbit, a day away before the trans-Mars injection burn to leave Earth, dreams were lost and chaotic. The brain, lacking gravity, disrupting the vestibular system in the inner ear responsible for balance and spatial orientation, was confused by the absence of up and down. Some of the astronauts dreamt their limbs felt different, or rooms back home were distorted, being rotated with missing floors.

But after a few days after the injection burn to leave Earth, and on the way to Mars, the zero gravity became the new normal. Dreams became calmer.

The sun shines through the windows, though harshly, as the spaceship barrel rolls, the barbeque roll, evening out the heat on the ship’s surface. Dreams are now of swimming in darkness, surrounded by bodily shapes.

While others dream of Earth: the sound of rain, smelling fresh air, fresh food, and feeling nostalgic—a deep longing. They dream of meeting family on Earth, but are asked, “What are you doing here? You should be in space”.

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