Mars Frontier Novel - New web location

Rxke · 2004-09-12 18:09:29

This land is your land, eh?

The last chapters are great. Again.

You can really feel the transition from scientific base to a real home. Splendid.

RobS · 2004-09-12 23:53:47

Well, I'm afraid I can't write songs! So I have to fall back on modifying an existing one. Yes, the transition from scientific base to settlement is quite interesting. It's the theme of a lot that comes up in the next few volumes.

-- RobS

Rxke · 2004-09-13 00:17:12

Don't get me wrong, I thought the sonng was avery nice touch, but it made me grin because of the recent jibjab version, heehee.

It's the perfect song to be used in this case (your case) IMHO.

RobS · 2004-09-15 17:26:08

The last three chapters of volume 4 are now on the web! They can be read at

http://rsmd.net/MarsFrontier]http://rsm … rsFrontier

Does anyone have comments, suggestions, etc., at this point?

I will probably get the updates to volumes 1-3 on the web--I'm constantly tinkering--and then turn to volume 5, which is written.

- RobS

Rxke · 2004-09-16 10:27:50

***SPOILER ALERT Don't read this if you haven't read the novel yet...****

Quite a minor observation,

Don't remember which chapter, but when the commander became mad with the peeps that had been drinking two bottles... He then gave his 'operations-speech' to the group...
Wouldn't it be wiser to reprimand them *after* the speech? They're bound to be mad at him, so won't listen objectively to his address...
A good commander (which he is,) would do it that way, I think... And if he didn't, you should use that fact for the 'drunk' people to act more negative than warranted, towards the plans for the expeditions etc...

(Edit:)

Weirdness again: I already emailed you once or more about how I think about stuff, and then a day later you post chapters with exactly those ideas... It happened again: the new buildings: the swimming pool, which i thought was long overdue (probably because of re-reading KSR's novels...)
And the life-support 'philosophy' been thinking about that on and of repeatedly... esp. the 'smells' etc... Also (bit off-topic) I think, wherever possible, people in first settlements wel be really tempted to place plants wherever they have even a slight chance to survive... I think plants do a lot to make air feel less 'dead'... Some plants are great filters, and even th ones considered non-smelling emit a faint 'green' smell. Strong-smelling flowers etc. might be more a nuisance than a blessing, if the system is small, of course... In an all but completely closed environment, they might add that little extra. Not to mention psychological aspect (again)
I do not see potplants as a major O2 producer, more as active scrubbers-and releasers of smells...
I think potted plants would do a lot to ... Hmmm starting to repeat myself.

Oh... some typos.... In chapter 10: "and which much of the crew here as experience with" (in discussion with Earth about new building plans)
And in 11: "Eammon and Irina had already sat at the head table weith their food" (after-wedding party) And: "It’s sad to see Columbus 5 leaving next week.”" Shouldn't that be C4?

RobS · 2004-09-16 23:24:54

Thanks for catching the typos. I'll take a look at the scene at the beginning, but I think Commander Elliott has to tell people while they have druck too much that they have done so and therefore there is a consequence, and he postpones the speech until the next day when they are sober and can listen. At least I think that's what he does, I can't remember now.

I agree I should say more about plants. Maybe I can go back and add them, but it may be more hassle than it's worth at this point. I agree that they have immense psychological value. In another novel I wrote once, the Mars spacecraft do not have plant growing cabinets; the crew flies to Mars without mint, cilantero, lettuce, etc. So one crew member smuggles seeds on board and improvises a tiny hydroponic garden using liquid plant fertilizer moistening a wad of toilet paper or other tissue in a plastic cup in his room and raises a lettuce plant next to his porthole. When he is discovered, the rest of the crew gets mad at him.

You like the swimmng pool and such? Wait for Columbus 5!

-- RobS

RobS · 2004-09-17 23:33:22

Here's an interesting question for everyone: what should astronauts on Mars called the land outside the base that they visit and explore? In Australia they refer to the land outside settled areas as the "outback." On the Falkland Islands, when you leave town you visit "the camp" (I suppose from the Latin campus, meaning "field").

But neither term has felt quite right for Mars. Outback isn't bad, though "back of what?" is my natural reaction. I have also considered "desert"; as in "Yeah, next month I've got an assignment out in the desert." But "desert" strikes me as too terrestrial; it conjurs up images of cacti. Its literal meaning, "deserted" "empty" isn't bad, but the imagery isn't right.

The other day a better term occurred to me: "range." If one looks it up in an on-line dictionary the nearest meaning is "open land on which one grazes cattle." This conjurs up imagery of grassland, which is as misleading as imagery of cacti. But "range" also is linked with "roam," and "to range over an area" and thus conveys a sense of a big open area. That I like.

The choice of words is important. Martians will have to settle on vocabulary such as this, and settling on terms of this sort makes a story much more credible. Terms give a story depth as well.

So for now, I favor "range." It would be used in sentences like "Yeah, next week I've got to go out on the range to widen the Polar Trail" or "I've got a range assignment; I'm going to Elysium to study volcanics" or "We're going out on the range to find more fossil locations."

Any other suggestions and ideas? How does "range" feel?

-- RobS

Rxke · 2004-09-18 04:03:47

I'm non-native English, so pinches of salt all around here...

What about: "I'm going out in(to) the Red," or: "I have a Red assignment"

Could mean red= everything on the map no explored, so unknown, potentially dangerous, could refer to maps too: say bases are 'green' on maps, roads (for instance) white, etc... uncharted terrain... Red.

Of course, could be confusing: what is a 'situation red?'...

"Im going out in/on the Reg?" (regolith) "I've got a Reg assignment," so on un'paved' terrain...

It should be a short word, save your oxy!

Ian Flint · 2004-09-18 19:19:01

I've been thinking about using this in the novel I will probably never write...

"I'm going Out."

Every place that is not pressurized is 'Out'. Plain and simple.

RobS · 2004-09-19 00:41:33

I've considered "reg" and I don't like it because it's like saying "soil" or "ground." But I like "red" as a slang term, at least.

"Out": That's a possibility, too. I think I'll stick to "range" for now as a technical or formal term.

By the way, there's a parallel terminological problem; what do you call pressurized land that is undeveloped or agricultural? I've been think of calling it "polder." This is the Dutch term for land reclaimed from the sea. It starts out as a mass of salty mudflat, but in stages it is washed of its salt, dried, and planted. I suspect polders will be the way Mars is terraformed--a dome at a time--for a century or two.

-- RobS

Rxke · 2004-09-19 02:10:47

Here in Flanders we have polders too, and it is a good idea... Similarity is quite striking... But i guess it's a very strange word for non-Dutch speaking people... Wouldn't it be bastardized to pulders or something quite quickly...

Come to think of it... Why not take words/meanings you like and look up their Latin equivalents/origins? Then try to 'Englicize' those words, see if you come up with something that sounds both good and has a modicum of scientific meaning?

RobS · 2004-09-19 09:56:20

I often will determine a word's etymology and use that to give it a "new" meaning (or an obscure old meaning) or to coin a new word (by switching to Greek roots, for example; this has often been done, giving us the Greek synagogue and the Latin congregation, for example; both mean "come together" or "go together"). But in this case, English borrowed polder from Dutch a few centuries ago and it already is an English word, referring specifically to land reclaimed from the bodies of water. I suspect the Fens area of England has "polders" but I am not sure what word they use for them there.

I haven't checked, but I assume "polder" is etymologically related to the word "field." I don't have a big dictionary at home and the web dictionaries are not very clear.

-- RobS

Rxke · 2004-09-19 12:16:25

Grrrr...

Sold my (quite authorative) etymological dictionary some months ago. Sometimes it's not so great, being a student...

Didn't know 'polder' was in use in English!

RobS · 2004-09-21 17:24:16

I wonder what people think of the terminology I felt I had to invent for the Mars novel:

Good sol: Patterned after the Australian Good Day, of course. The English word "day" actually has two meanings: the twelve hour period of daylight; and a twenty-four hour period. I'd keep both of those meanings and add "sol" which only means a 24.6 hour period. Marsians still use the terms day and night. I didn't coin "sol" it was coined for the Viking mission and is used by Spirit and Opportunity's teams. Those teams also use "yestersol," by the way.

Monsol, Tuesol, etc.: It makes sense to stick to a seven-sol week, but after a month Monsol falls on Tuesday, a month later it falls on Wednesday, etc., because the 0.6 day difference accumulates. Hence the use of Monsol instead of Monday; to avoid confusion, because they are not simultaneous. A seven-sol week with Satursol and Sunsol also accommodates religions with Sabbaths.

Attache: Here I was looking for a word that describes the thing that is being created when the computer and the cellular telephone/videophone merge. I don't particularly like the word "computer"; the things do a lot more than count.

Trail: I was trying to come up with a word to describe the bulldozed dirt roads they are creating on Mars. I am not positive making such dirt roads is the best use of limited energy, but they would allow faster movement on the surface after the initial exploration of an area. At first I used "highway" and decided that sounded too ambitious.

Borough: I wanted a term to describe a civil unit of government on Mars that encompasses a very large area of land. In Alaska, a "borough" is the term that otherwise is equivalent to "county" in the rest of the U.S., so I used it. There are large areas of Alaska, I think, that still fall outside boroughs.

Reg: Short and slang for regolith. I think I invented this.

Dusty Red or Big Red: Slang for Mars, not used much in my novel because I forget to incorporate it!

Biome: Term for a dome that has housing and agriculture and a single climate. I've actually tended to switch back to "dome" in later volumes of the story. Biomes don't arrive until almost 10 years after the first settlers.

Conestoga: The name for a type of vehicle that is roughly patterned on a recreational vehicle. It has a cab built into it and is about 7 meters long and 2.4 meters wide, which is the size of many recreational vehicles. It can accommodate a crew of three comfortably. They don't arrive until Columbus 3 or 4.

Smaller that Conestogas, I started with the word "van" but then decided to replace that idea with a "truck" and "camper." The truck is larger than the cab of a pickup truck; the cab can be pressurized and is about 2.4 meters wide by about 2.4 meters long. It's big enough for two people to sleep in and do a bit of work in. Normally you don't live in the truck, though; usually it pulls a camper, which is an inflatable small habitat, 2.4 meters wide and 5 meters long. The truck can also bulldoze, tow trailers, etc.; it is a flexible but heavy vehicle. Two trucks and campers arrive on Columbus 1.

Larger than Conestogas are Mobilabs, though I may change that to Mobilhab. They're 2.4 meters wide, 8 or 9 meters long, and 2 stories high. As such, they can hold 4 to 8 people easily. They don't bulldoze or clear trails, but follow along behind the other vehicles on the trails. Mobilhabs don't arrive until Columbus 5 or 6, but have already been used on the moon for a few years at that point.

There are also "unpressurized rovers" which are basically the size of golf carts.

-- RobS

RobS · 2004-10-01 23:55:26

Finally! I got part of volume 5 posted to the website, and because I took so long to do it, I posted five chapters! Enjoy.

-- RobS

Ian Flint · 2004-10-02 08:25:56

Your Evil, Rob, pure evil.

Does it look like I have time to read today? Huh, does it!?

I have too much work to do...ok, just a little peek.

Hello, my name is Ian.

>>Hello, Ian.<<
>>Hello, Ian.<<
>>Hello, Ian.<<

And I'm a...a...Mars Frontier-aholic.

>>Good 'on ya mate!<<
>>We hear ya brother!<<
>>Let it all out, man!<<

Rxke · 2004-10-02 08:34:51

I can stop reading if I want to!

RobS · 2004-10-05 01:00:03

I have FINALLY gotten all my updates on the website. I made so many small editing changes, I have uploaded brand new chapters, from vol. 1, ch. 1, through vol. 5, ch. 5. The plot hasn't changed, just little details. Rik, you suggested I simplify the explanation of the moon phase in the very first chapter; this I've done.

Otherwise, the main change is in technical terminology. The vehicles that flew them between planets were called Ihabs; now they're ITVs or Interplanetary Transit Vehicles. And the vehicles used on the Martian surface are these:

1. Buggies, a four wheeled, open, unpressurized, single-person all terrain vehicles. These formerly were open rovers.

2. Rangers, a vehicle about the size of a large jeep or humvee, six wheeled, accommodating up to four passengers, with life support able to support one person normally but two in an emergency. These vehicles can bulldoze a trail or pull other things. They're the basic vehicle on Mars. First I called them vans, later trucks. I rather like "ranger."

3. Portahabs, a portable, four-wheeled inflatable habitation able to house two, four in an emergency. I formerly called these "campers." Portahabs have no motors; they must be towed.

4. Conestogas, 8 meters long, 2.4 wide and high, eight wheeled, able to accommodate four normally and 6-8 in an emergency, with built in cab from which it is driven.

5. Mobilhabs, same length and width as a Conestoga but two stories high, and thus normally accommodating six to eight. These monsters make their first appearance later in volume five. They're practically a portable base. They have to move on cleared dirt trails.

6. Robotic trucks. They begin to appear now in volume 4, but aren't important until later.

I'll be posting more chapters to vol. 5 in a few days.

-- RobS

Ian Flint · 2004-10-05 16:55:33

I like most of the vehicle name changes, but fankly, I think Ihab was better than ITV. ITV is so NASA...so LEO...so acronimmy...

RobS · 2004-10-06 00:10:53

Interesting comment, Ian. Maybe I can come up with something that's more clever than ITV. You're right about it being more NASA; I didn't coin the term. The International Academy of Astronautics report about the next steps in space uses the term for their Earth orbit to Mars orbit vehicle.

-- RobS

Rxke · 2004-10-06 00:59:40

Agree with Ian. The Ihab has gotten so er.. (language block...reset system..)

I've gotten quite fond of that moniker, thought it sounded good.

Ian Flint · 2004-10-06 07:29:58

Here's a suggestion.

I think another author (Mars Crossing, maybe) did this.

Keep ITV as the official NASA acronim but have the Martians come up with their own nickname like...um...Ihab. :;):

RobS · 2004-10-12 01:44:58

I finally got chapters 6 and 7 of volume 5 up.

you can check out my new main page, also, at http://rsmd.net]http://rsmd.net,, then click on "Rob's private pages" to get to the Mars Frontier novels.

-- RobS

RobS · 2004-10-17 07:55:31

I just put up chapters 8, 9, and 10. Enjoy.

-- RobS

Rxke · 2004-10-17 08:27:51

Reading chapter 8, and it strikes me how either your writing has improved during the course or... you magically made the story more 'real,' this no longer feels like some kind of science-fiction, it's becoming more and more a novel about settlers, human beings, in a new place they made their home...

This novel is a great piece of work. If you ever think about publishing, though, maybe it would be a good thing to do the old trick of 'scramblling' the time-line a bit, make the 'intro' chapters a preview of, say, around Colombus 5, to show where it is heading to... Then back to the beginning, the hard first steps...

I can't help but thinking the commander will die of a heart-attack, though! He's sooo busy...

Thank you again for sharing this, Robert. Thank you.

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