Martian Marketing
Note: Image associated is from Ironage.media, specifically their prompt, 'The Shuttle'
The funny thing about flying in space is that we always seemed to think we'd figure out some form of gravity creation beforehand. To be fair, we did figure out an approximation by accident. It turns out that an awful lot of space dust and rocks have ferrous metal or iron deposits riddled throughout. And the best way to keep them from striking your vessel was a magnetic field around the ship. Then, placing a pair of strong magnets in everybody's boots does a great job of keeping you able to move along just about every wall. Unfortunately, this played hell with conventional screens as magnets have since the earliest screen designs. As a result, holograms were finally provided with a strong need for them as a commercial product, finally becoming valuable for something other than simple entertainment or spectacle.
However, before those first true spaceflights between Mars and Earth, we forgot something. Gravity. Which had once been theorized as the attraction to massive objects. And that proved undeniably true. Grav-sickness in the crew and its ripple effects in early spaceship designs nearly killed the first colonists to land on the Red planet. When their ship passed by Phobos, the engines failed for a time, her fuel no longer moving as anticipated in the ship's tanks. Some of the more delicate creature-comfort machines, throughout the cabins and in the hold, intended to keep the colonists sane until regular trade could be achieved, were ripped apart under the competing gravity wells. Had it been any worse, it'd occupy a similar place in space flight's history as the 20th century's Challenger mission, a terrible tragedy in the early years of Earth's attempts to touch the stars.
Luckily, the approach vector was intended to give the crew and vessel as much time as possible to react to any issues that may arise, even unexpected ones. The Captain managed to maintain his composure and righted the ship relative to the surface of Mars, correcting many of the systemic issues in a vessel designed under the effects of planetary gravity experiencing it from two, equally incorrect orientations. The readings sent back to Earth proved invaluable in immediately identifying design flaws and determining how to correct them for future missions. Amusingly, one of the designs floated as a potential solution was that of a flying saucer, a design oft-cited by those who claimed Aliens had visited Earth in times past.
Ultimately, what came to be the long-term solution in ship design thus far was to build them as close to outside the effects of gravity as we could and rely on tried and true designs to ferry people from planetary surfaces to spaceborne vessels. Thus, we come to the most recent iteration of the planetary shuttle. The Lockheed-Boeing made Griffin, pictured right, the premier design in High-Orbit Traversal and Shipping. In either its passenger or freight configurations, it can bring 1000 people with luggage or 125 E.T. (Earth-Tonnes) from any planet's surface to a standard Orbital Dockyard in a mere 30 minutes, in guaranteed* comfort and safety.
*Guarantee is only valid with maintenance logs provided and licensed pilot's records from the appropriate planetary authority's jurisdiction.
- This rare printed advertorial, pulled from the pages of The Martian Herald, is an example of advertising common to Mars-based companies. It is designed to appeal to the history of Mars as Earth's first extra-planetary colony while associating the company or product shown with the intrepid nature of its people and allaying the public's fears linked to death in orbit, whether high or low. Per Martian Law, the Author is unlisted to avoid undue beliefs of accuracy, honesty, impartiality, or harm to a particular journalist's reputation in the event of controversy on the part of the company that paid for the ad.
Presented by The Venus Association for the Preservation of Extra-Planetary History.