University of Cape Town Explication: About 10,000 Words
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Caroline Reid Novel: About 81,000 words University of Cape Town Explication: About 10,000 words A Hypothetical Exploration of Survival, Colonisation and Interplanetary Relations Around the planet Mars Town Including the novel ‘Rust’ by C. M. ReidCape of University The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derivedTown from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes Capeonly. of Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University Rust 1 CONTENTS CONTENTS 1 Explication 6 Colonisation of Mars 7 Time and Date 7 Mars of Rust 8 Martians of Rust 13 The Second and the Final Frontiers 17 The Crew 21 Funding Martian Missions 23 Martian Habitation 26 Habitat Locations 26 ARSIA MONS 26 VALLES MARINERIS 28 Martian Skies 29 Plants, Lichen and Gardening 31 Martian Health 34 Artificial Intelligence 35 Robots on Mars 35 Rust 2 The Threat and Fear of A.I. 37 Radicalisation 39 The Constitution 39 Isolation and Control in Cults 41 In Conclusion 46 BIBLIOGRAPHY 46 RUST 0 MORANA 2 CHAPTER 1 2 CHAPTER 2 7 CHAPTER 3 13 CHAPTER 4 17 CHAPTER 5 22 CHAPTER 6 27 CHAPTER 7 31 CHAPTER 8 35 CHAPTER 9 38 CHAPTER 10 41 ZHOU 50 CHAPTER 11 50 AMBRA 56 CHAPTER 12 56 Rust 3 CHAPTER 13 60 CHAPTER 14 64 CHAPTER 15 68 CHAPTER 16 74 CHAPTER 17 78 CHAPTER 18 81 CHAPTER 19 84 CHAPTER 20 86 CHAPTER 21 90 CHAPTER 22 94 CHAPTER 23 97 CHAPTER 24 102 CHAPTER 25 107 CHAPTER 26 117 CHAPTER 27 122 HONEY 124 CHAPTER 28 124 CHAPTER 29 131 CHAPTER 30 140 CHAPTER 31 145 CHAPTER 32 154 CHAPTER 33 158 Rust 4 CHAPTER 34 163 CHAPTER 35 167 CHAPTER 36 171 CHAPTER 37 176 CHAPTER 38 182 CHAPTER 39 187 CHAPTER 40 193 CHAPTER 41 197 CHAPTER 42 202 SAFFRON 205 CHAPTER 43 205 Acknowledgements 208 Rust 5 Rust 6 Explication An Explication of the novel Rust by C. M. Reid Rust 7 Colonisation of Mars Time and Date The events of Rust happen entirely in the future. The first events to happen in chapter one occur in the Martian year 41 which corresponds to the Earth year 2032. For this calendar, April 11th, 1955 is chosen as the date for the beginning of year one of Mars. This relatively arbitrary date corresponds with the year of a global dust storm widely observed in 1956. Mars years arrow is chosen to start on May 24th, 1953, and previous years have negative numbers. (Piqueax et al, 2015, p. 332) The next section, where Zhou writes the constitution and Ambra starts her journey towards Earth, happens in the Earth year 2142 which corresponds to the Martian year 100. These events happen over 100 years in the future. And finally, Honey's story starts in the Earth year 2250 which is at least 200 years in the future at the time of writing this thesis. Her epilogue happens in the Earth year 2272 which corresponds to The Martian year 169, indicating that it still took her a long time to recover from her trauma at the earth Patriots, apply for citizenship and then travel to Planet. One Martian day, as in the time it takes for the planet Mars to make one orbit around its own axis, is 24 hours and 39 minutes and 35 seconds. Although this time is very similar to Rust 8 that of Earth, the orbits slowly move in and out of sync. (NASA, 2018a) Mars of Rust Mars, the fourth planet from the sun, is one and a half times further away from the Sun than Earth. Therefore, the intensity of sunlight on Mars’ surface is less than half that of the Earth (Dunbar, 2004). This, along with many other physical traits, contribute to the harsh environment that the Martians navigate throughout the book. Rust uses deconstructed rockets for the Martians to live in. These structures provide warmth, shelter from dust storms and a breathable atmosphere. Unlike Earth, Mars has no molten core at the centre of the planet, it was once active but is now inert and cool. Earth’s molten core heats the planet’s surface and creates a magnetosphere; a magnetic field around the planet. This invisible field points compass needles northward, but also deflects charged cosmic particles and solar wind that would otherwise damage living organisms with effects including cancer. Since Mars has no shelter from this space radiation, the surface is dangerous for living organisms and poses at least a cancer risk. Their rocket structure provides shelter, but also the subterranean location chosen in Part I, the skylights of the Arsia Mons volcano, provides some extra cover. In Part II, a more open region is chosen, in the Valles Marineris canyon bowl, which has other advantages such Rust 9 as greater geological research potential as well as minimal radiation cover. Earth’s atmosphere is a thin layer of gases surrounding the surface, including oxygen that we need to breathe. Gravity anchors this atmosphere to the surface of Earth but Mars’ diameter is slightly more than half the length of Earth’s: 6790 km compared to 12750 km (NASA, 2018a). As a result, the gravity on Mars is roughly a third the strength of Earth’s. Through the low gravity and other processes such as carbonation, the atmosphere escaped into the vacuum of space. The atmospheric pressure on its surface is now around 0.6% that of Earth’s sea level pressure and consists mostly of carbon dioxide (NASA, 2018a). Under the stress of low pressure, nitrogen dissolved in the blood as liquid can expand into a gas and forms bubbles, a symptom noted by deep sea divers who swim up to lower pressure gradients too fast called ‘decompression sickness’ or, colloquially, ‘the bends.’ Astronauts who enter the vacuum of space also experience this painful symptom (Norfleet, 2008, p. 223-246). The Martians in Rust counter the pressure gradient and prevent this sickness by pressurizing their colony and trapping the atmosphere inside with airlocks and minimal faults in the structure; round walls, limited windows etc. Additionally, they cannot go outside without a suit with artificial pressure and its own air supply. Rust 10 Whilst mankind has stretched the limits of habitable temperatures, in Siberia, winters are long and harsh, temperatures plummeting to -20 °C with records lows of -68 °C (WMO, 2010). Still, these temperatures are balmy when compared to the poles, which can plummet to −143 °. The Viking lander recorded a temperature range of −17.2 °C to −107 °C. In the right regions in the summer, Spirit rover recorded a high of 35 °C (NASA, 2007a). Whilst some of these temperatures are habitable, even pleasant, the range is beyond human tolerance. During winter, the heaters in the shelter and the insulation on the atmospheric suits are essential to survival. Overcoming the hardships of the planet is only the first challenge posed to the settlers of Mars. They are also tasked with discovering its origins using geological techniques and in researching how the planet might support life. Water exists on Mars today, not in liquid form but as ice, visible on the northern ice cap and postulated to be locked under the surface. It is believed that flowing water in Mars’ history would make it more probable that the planet also supported life (Carr, 1996, p, 197; Jakosky and Haberle, 1992, p, 969). This was part of the motivation for settling the colony in Part II in the Valles Marineris; a 4,000 km long canyon which is 7 km deep in places (NASA, 2002). The layers of mineral that make up the surface can be seen in horizontal Rust 11 slices down the height of the canyon wall, which makes determining the different rock formation eras of the planet, but there are also features that may have been formed by water. There are channels possibly formed by liquid water, but it has also been suggested that the channel was formed from lava erosion from one of the Tharsis volcanoes (Leone, 2014, pp. 1–8). The surface of Mars is covered in fine dust. These granules are whipped up in the winds creating dust features including dust devils and sometimes even covering the entire planet for weeks at a time. Martian dust devils are predicted to be ten times bigger than the ones of Earth, which may seem impressive but because the atmospheric pressure is so low, they exert a much smaller force. They are not harmless, however. Rovers on Mars must hibernate when caught amid a dust storm to conserve power since barely any light penetrates the storm. This poses a power source risk for any solar-powered machinery on the planet and a potential communication blackout. It is predicted that these devils, like ones found on Earth, might be electrostatically charged and, like polystyrene foam, stick to everything (Krauss, Nyi and Robertson, 2003, p. 70). This is an effect that the Martians Rust 12 constantly battle against every time they open the airlock. After one of these storms, the Martian rovers are filthy. The dust itself may create an allergic response in humans, like the lunar dust on the moon that causes hay fever- like symptoms in Apollo astronaut Harrison Schmitt and he complained of "lunar dust hay fever." (NASA, 2005a). As seen by one of the characters in Part I, Edith attributes her watery eyes and cough to the false atmosphere within the structure.