Is it possible for governments to exile a person as punishment for their crimes? Most people will recognise the name Botany Bay for it's historical context. Botany Bay was the destination for prisoners bound for the Penal Colony established by the British in Australia. What most people do not know is that Botany Bay was not the first nor the largest. For most of the eighteenth century Britain exiled nearly 50,000 convicts to colonial America. The American revolution put an end to that and Botany Bay was established, along with penal colonies on Norfolk Island, Tasmania and in New South Wales.
Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes the provision that arbitrary exile illegal. So this does not stop a nation state choosing exile as a punishment after due process. Of course, who wants a penal colony on their doorstep? This is why you do not see many people suffering exile as a punishment anymore. So what happens if the realm of the whole Solar System opens up. There will then be plenty of space for people to be exiled to who without stepping on the toes of neighbours. A penal colony on a planet without atmosphere would be very difficult to escape from.
So when we actually do go into space and start colonising Mars and other worlds will we see the return of the exile?
In the Mars Exile series of books, David Brennan was one such person sent to Mars as an exile under something called the Eaglewing Project. To avoid public discontent, government agencies involved offered this exile as an alternative to more severe punishment. David would have otherwise faced the death penalty for his alleged crime. The Eaglewing team, led by Edward Jones, sought out people who would otherwise have not received real justice, and gave them a second chance.
Will real world politics allow the same grace? Somehow I doubt it, but we can always hope that somewhere there will be an Opportunity that allows these people to show the very best of themselves.
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Elon Musk charging $500,000 for trip to Mars
According to Elon Musk, the number of people going to Mars each year in the Mars Exile series is extremely conservative. In a speech to the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, he suggested that 80,000 (Yes that is eighty thousand) people could go to Mars each year. In his grand vision for Mars, he would be using recyclable spaceships. It is this that allows him to set the half million dollor price tag!
Presumably, he is not talking about sticking them in a plastic bag and putting them outside the front door for the Council to collect.
Current rocket technology is hideously expensive because in almost every launch, you have to throw away bits, which usually end up getting destroyed in various wonderful ways or worse: taken apart and refurbished. Even the Space Shuttle did this. The Orbiter had to be re-tiled after every landing!
So SpaceX's vision of reusable rockets is on the right lines to bring down costs. People landing on Mars is probably not as distant as some think. There are, believe it or not, more vexing questions to this interplanetary hop than the cost of the spacecraft. We wait with bated breath as Elon and his team dream up solutions to those problems.
Presumably, he is not talking about sticking them in a plastic bag and putting them outside the front door for the Council to collect.
Current rocket technology is hideously expensive because in almost every launch, you have to throw away bits, which usually end up getting destroyed in various wonderful ways or worse: taken apart and refurbished. Even the Space Shuttle did this. The Orbiter had to be re-tiled after every landing!
So SpaceX's vision of reusable rockets is on the right lines to bring down costs. People landing on Mars is probably not as distant as some think. There are, believe it or not, more vexing questions to this interplanetary hop than the cost of the spacecraft. We wait with bated breath as Elon and his team dream up solutions to those problems.
Monday, 19 November 2012
Original eBook now available for FREE
Click here to get your copy
Three astronauts on their way to Mars are concerned about the one thing they cannot control: The Sun!
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
New Pioneers ebook now widely available
The follow up to Second Chances is now available as an eBook from
Lulu.com (where you can also buy the Paperback)
Note: Lulu.com have a 20% discount offer going until 16 Nov 2012!
iTunes for the iPad
Amazon (for the Kindle)
I will let you know when the paperback hits Amazon.com. As before, the hardback will be available from Lulu.com only. All before Christmas!
Lulu.com (where you can also buy the Paperback)
Note: Lulu.com have a 20% discount offer going until 16 Nov 2012!
iTunes for the iPad
Amazon (for the Kindle)
I will let you know when the paperback hits Amazon.com. As before, the hardback will be available from Lulu.com only. All before Christmas!
Friday, 26 October 2012
Free eBook: The New Pioneers, Chapter 1
The first chapter of the second in the 'Mars Exile' series of novels is now available as ebook and as a baperback from Lulu.com. Other distribution channels (Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble) will follow in the next couple of months.
In case you cannot wait, get the first chapter here free of charge. The book will cost £9 for the paperback and £3.99 for the ebook (or the equivalent in your local currency.)
In case you cannot wait, get the first chapter here free of charge. The book will cost £9 for the paperback and £3.99 for the ebook (or the equivalent in your local currency.)
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
The 'When' and 'Should we' of going to Mars
Dr Alexander Kumar has published a couple of articles on the BBC about the practicalities of sending humans to Mars. You can find them below:
When will we send humans to Mars?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19652324
Should we send humans to Mars?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19666057
When will we send humans to Mars?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19652324
Should we send humans to Mars?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19666057
Friday, 28 September 2012
New Pioneers and Mars Time
The second book in the series is on it's way. Mars Exile: The New Pioneers continues the story of the people of the City of Opportunity on Mars. It is nine of Mars' years since David Brennan arrived on Mars, but he's nearly twice as old as he was when he arrived. So what's going on here?
Mars takes twice as long to go around the sun than Earth does. So one year on Mars is approximately (but not quite) two on Earth. That's about 687 days or 668 Mars sols. (A sol is what they call a day on Mars.) And that's not the whole story. The variation in the orbit of Mars that gives Mars its seasons is also more pronounced and it also moves a little each year. So it's not so straight forward. It would give astrologists something to think about.
This issue of years on Mars leads to a whole series of headaches. How do you work out what day to hold your birthday on if you were born on Earth? If you choose to hold it twice a Mars year on your Earthly birthday, then what day? Mars' sol is just over thirty minutes longer than a day on Earth. So each sol starts slightly later each day, until you get one so that actually starts on one day and does not finish until the second day. If you were making a telephone call, you would have to check on a pre-calculated calendar to make sure you were not waking your recipient up at one in the morning. It's bad enough doing that on Earth between different time zones. (Trust me, I've done it! Sorry Bill.)
Second Chances introduced the first child born on Mars. The New Pioneers gives us a brief glance of a whole new generation that have never known Earth. What we call teenager occurs now when a child is six or seven. What do the residents of Mars now call that terrible affliction of coming of age?
The City of Opportunity is lucky enough to be located close to Mars' Prime Meridian and uses Mars Standard Time (MST.) However, not everyone agrees with or uses MST. For individual missions, NASA usually uses Mean Local Time. Roughly meaning that when the sun is directly over head, it is noon. As colonies spread out from a starting point like the City of Opportunity, they would also use MST, otherwise it would start to get very hard to coordinate things. Actually, this is not an unfamiliar problem. Even on Earth it was not that long ago that Time Zones were coordinated and settled on. Even now there are some states that are in a time-zone of their own, fifteen minutes ahead of their closest neighbour. But that does not mean that other nations sending missions to Mars have to go by the same rules.
Mars takes twice as long to go around the sun than Earth does. So one year on Mars is approximately (but not quite) two on Earth. That's about 687 days or 668 Mars sols. (A sol is what they call a day on Mars.) And that's not the whole story. The variation in the orbit of Mars that gives Mars its seasons is also more pronounced and it also moves a little each year. So it's not so straight forward. It would give astrologists something to think about.
This issue of years on Mars leads to a whole series of headaches. How do you work out what day to hold your birthday on if you were born on Earth? If you choose to hold it twice a Mars year on your Earthly birthday, then what day? Mars' sol is just over thirty minutes longer than a day on Earth. So each sol starts slightly later each day, until you get one so that actually starts on one day and does not finish until the second day. If you were making a telephone call, you would have to check on a pre-calculated calendar to make sure you were not waking your recipient up at one in the morning. It's bad enough doing that on Earth between different time zones. (Trust me, I've done it! Sorry Bill.)
Second Chances introduced the first child born on Mars. The New Pioneers gives us a brief glance of a whole new generation that have never known Earth. What we call teenager occurs now when a child is six or seven. What do the residents of Mars now call that terrible affliction of coming of age?
The City of Opportunity is lucky enough to be located close to Mars' Prime Meridian and uses Mars Standard Time (MST.) However, not everyone agrees with or uses MST. For individual missions, NASA usually uses Mean Local Time. Roughly meaning that when the sun is directly over head, it is noon. As colonies spread out from a starting point like the City of Opportunity, they would also use MST, otherwise it would start to get very hard to coordinate things. Actually, this is not an unfamiliar problem. Even on Earth it was not that long ago that Time Zones were coordinated and settled on. Even now there are some states that are in a time-zone of their own, fifteen minutes ahead of their closest neighbour. But that does not mean that other nations sending missions to Mars have to go by the same rules.
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Buzz Aldrin on Mars
No, Buzz has never been to Mars, but he has been thinking about it. The second man to walk on the Moon had an idea of a space taxi service that would cycle continuously around the two planets, allowing supplies and people to be ferried back and forth.
It started off as a way to cheaply reach the Moon. He was asked to look at the same thing for Mars and he did. His method used gravity to power the trip using space craft that would be re-used. As the craft passed by, you would simply send a rocket up to meet it, dock with it, refuel, recharge and pass cargo or passengers and then disengage, letting it continue on it's cycle. Five months later, the craft passes Mars and the same process occurs - you intercept, unload, reload, etc, and it continues back to Earth.
This method, called the Aldrin Mars Cycler, was confirmed as achievable in the 1980's. In Buzz's eyes Astronauts that visit Mars ought to stay there for at least five years and with this kind of cheap (relatively speaking) method of transporting supplies, perhaps stay there for the rest of their lives. He thinks that we could have a person on Mars by 2030.
It started off as a way to cheaply reach the Moon. He was asked to look at the same thing for Mars and he did. His method used gravity to power the trip using space craft that would be re-used. As the craft passed by, you would simply send a rocket up to meet it, dock with it, refuel, recharge and pass cargo or passengers and then disengage, letting it continue on it's cycle. Five months later, the craft passes Mars and the same process occurs - you intercept, unload, reload, etc, and it continues back to Earth.
This method, called the Aldrin Mars Cycler, was confirmed as achievable in the 1980's. In Buzz's eyes Astronauts that visit Mars ought to stay there for at least five years and with this kind of cheap (relatively speaking) method of transporting supplies, perhaps stay there for the rest of their lives. He thinks that we could have a person on Mars by 2030.
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Mini Landed on Mars
Well, okay, it's only the size and weight of a mini, but NASA's latest robot, Curiosity, has been landed on Mars.
What is unique about this landing is the way that this landing took place. In the past landers have used airbags to cushion the force of the landing. This time NASA used what they call a 'skycrane.' (Not forgetting a painful past where a young man is sent to the hardware store to look for a skyhook...) But unlike the skyhook, the skycrane actually exists.
So now we have the technology to precision land any piece of kit we like on Mars, including vehicles, components for a Base, a power plant! The imagination is limitless...
What is unique about this landing is the way that this landing took place. In the past landers have used airbags to cushion the force of the landing. This time NASA used what they call a 'skycrane.' (Not forgetting a painful past where a young man is sent to the hardware store to look for a skyhook...) But unlike the skyhook, the skycrane actually exists.
So now we have the technology to precision land any piece of kit we like on Mars, including vehicles, components for a Base, a power plant! The imagination is limitless...
Lulu.com 20% discounts
Another chance to save when buying books from Lulu.com. While there, if you have not yet, then why not take this opportunity to get Mars Exile: Second Chances for less...
This offer lasts until Friday 10 August. Use the code ASTOUND20 in your shopping basket by the end of the day tomorrow and get your 20% discount.
Monday, 23 July 2012
Second Chances paperback now on Amazon
The paperback version of Mars Exile: Second Chances is now available through Amazon.
If you have already read Second Chances can I ask you to leave an honest review.
If you have already read Second Chances can I ask you to leave an honest review.
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
More water on Mars than first thought?
http://carnegiescience.edu/news/extensive_water_mar%E2%80%99s_interior
Dig a well on Mars and you are likely to find some water. At the surface of Mars the air pressure is so low that water sumlimates directly from ice to vapor. Consequently that Mars looks to be dry on the surface is quite to be expected. Scientific estimates are that there is as much water under Mars' surface as there is under Earth's.
Find plenty of water, add carbon dioxide and you have all the resources you need for life: Water, Air and Plastic!!!
In the book Mars Exile: Second Chances, all the water needed for the outpost is drawn from a well. Excess heat from a nuclear power plant (and later on from excess solar energy) is used to heat the water and draw it to the surface. It is then used in everything from basic support of life (drinking, watering, washing) to the creation of materials (Plastics from the hydrocarbons created by combining Carbon Dioxide and Water in a very clever way which we will explain later...)
This makes Mars a more attractive destination than the moon, even though the moon is much closer (Nights lasting over 300 hours is also pretty much a put off too. Mars' day is only a few minutes longer than on Earth.)
Dig a well on Mars and you are likely to find some water. At the surface of Mars the air pressure is so low that water sumlimates directly from ice to vapor. Consequently that Mars looks to be dry on the surface is quite to be expected. Scientific estimates are that there is as much water under Mars' surface as there is under Earth's.
Find plenty of water, add carbon dioxide and you have all the resources you need for life: Water, Air and Plastic!!!
In the book Mars Exile: Second Chances, all the water needed for the outpost is drawn from a well. Excess heat from a nuclear power plant (and later on from excess solar energy) is used to heat the water and draw it to the surface. It is then used in everything from basic support of life (drinking, watering, washing) to the creation of materials (Plastics from the hydrocarbons created by combining Carbon Dioxide and Water in a very clever way which we will explain later...)
This makes Mars a more attractive destination than the moon, even though the moon is much closer (Nights lasting over 300 hours is also pretty much a put off too. Mars' day is only a few minutes longer than on Earth.)
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
18% Discount @ Lulu.com until 13 July
Go to Lulu.com and get 18% discount on your purchases. Offer lasts until 13 July 2012.
Another good reason to buy Mars Exile: Second Chances.
Another good reason to buy Mars Exile: Second Chances.
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Birthday Surprise
Veron organised a surprise birthday visit yesterday to see The Amazing Spiderman at the local cinema followed by ice-cream and waffles at Frankie and Benny's. I was really surprised and very happy to be surrounded by friends.
In a role-reversal, my friends signed my first hard-back copy of Second Chances and presented it to me.
If you would like to get your hands on a copy of Mars Exile: Second Chances you can buy it directly from Lulu.com or as an eBook on the Kindle from Amazon, on the iPad from the iBookStore, and on the Nook from Barnes and Noble.
In a role-reversal, my friends signed my first hard-back copy of Second Chances and presented it to me.
If you would like to get your hands on a copy of Mars Exile: Second Chances you can buy it directly from Lulu.com or as an eBook on the Kindle from Amazon, on the iPad from the iBookStore, and on the Nook from Barnes and Noble.
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Save money on books from Lulu.com
Buyers are able to save on their book orders from Lulu until 15 June. Voucher code for your part of the World can be obtained by visiting http://www.lulu.com
At the same time, Mars Exile: Second Chances is now available in Hardback. This version will only be available direct from Lulu.com and not from other retailers.
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
The inspiration for Mars Exile
Why did I write about Mars?
As I write small articles for a local newspaper and a fanzine I tend to stumble across things. Consider the book written by Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul Davies called 'A One Way Mission to Mars: Colonizing the Red Planet' (available on Amazon.) Originally titled 'To boldy go...' but that was probably going to run into copyright issues. They propose that is would be more cost effective to make a one way trip to Mars rather than go there and come back. The answer to all the other questions that come to mind is 'Yes. It's possible.' And so I started to write. This was at the end of 2010.
As time went by and I learned the art of writing, a simple story turned into a small novel, and then into a series of small novels. It just happened. Still the question remained: Am I writing rubbish? Is it possible that today people are actually thinking about going to Mars? Well, Elun Musk is counting on it.
The PayPal billionaire founded SpaceX, a company building and supplying rockets and capsules on a commercial basis. The company is leaping ahead of all it's rivals in terms of advancement. It even has a capsule certified for re-entry, the first certification of it's kind for a private company. His claims that the Dragon capsule could carry people to Mars have found their way to the BBC. This is no weird freak making outlandish claims. If you had said five years ago that a private company would be taking Americans into space you might think of Branson's sub orbital flights. Elon's SpaceX is within a hair's breath of doing what only the Space Shuttle did a few years back. The only people carrying astronauts to the ISS today are the Russians and that system is having its own problems.
But Elon is just one person following his dream. What about the rest of us? Well George W Bush sent NASA back to the moon. They started on this project in the days before budgets nose-dived. His successor, Barak Obama, cancelled this plan. Instead, he gave NASA a new goal: Get to Mars by the mid-2030s and then come back home. Obviously he had not read up on Dirk and Paul's writings on the matter. So actually the leading power in the Western World things that Mars is a possibility and has its people working on the plan as you read.
And so technically the stage is set. Progress is being made. Mars beckons. The only think to ask now is: Who will go? What will life be like for those first few?
Read about some of my thoughts on that in the fictional book Mars Exile: Second Chances and let your imagination go to Mars.
As I write small articles for a local newspaper and a fanzine I tend to stumble across things. Consider the book written by Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul Davies called 'A One Way Mission to Mars: Colonizing the Red Planet' (available on Amazon.) Originally titled 'To boldy go...' but that was probably going to run into copyright issues. They propose that is would be more cost effective to make a one way trip to Mars rather than go there and come back. The answer to all the other questions that come to mind is 'Yes. It's possible.' And so I started to write. This was at the end of 2010.
As time went by and I learned the art of writing, a simple story turned into a small novel, and then into a series of small novels. It just happened. Still the question remained: Am I writing rubbish? Is it possible that today people are actually thinking about going to Mars? Well, Elun Musk is counting on it.
The PayPal billionaire founded SpaceX, a company building and supplying rockets and capsules on a commercial basis. The company is leaping ahead of all it's rivals in terms of advancement. It even has a capsule certified for re-entry, the first certification of it's kind for a private company. His claims that the Dragon capsule could carry people to Mars have found their way to the BBC. This is no weird freak making outlandish claims. If you had said five years ago that a private company would be taking Americans into space you might think of Branson's sub orbital flights. Elon's SpaceX is within a hair's breath of doing what only the Space Shuttle did a few years back. The only people carrying astronauts to the ISS today are the Russians and that system is having its own problems.
But Elon is just one person following his dream. What about the rest of us? Well George W Bush sent NASA back to the moon. They started on this project in the days before budgets nose-dived. His successor, Barak Obama, cancelled this plan. Instead, he gave NASA a new goal: Get to Mars by the mid-2030s and then come back home. Obviously he had not read up on Dirk and Paul's writings on the matter. So actually the leading power in the Western World things that Mars is a possibility and has its people working on the plan as you read.
And so technically the stage is set. Progress is being made. Mars beckons. The only think to ask now is: Who will go? What will life be like for those first few?
Read about some of my thoughts on that in the fictional book Mars Exile: Second Chances and let your imagination go to Mars.
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Second Chances kindle edition now available
'Mars Exile: Second Chances' is now also available for the Kindle from your local Amazon site or even directly from your Kindle. Just search for 'Mars Exile Second Chances' on the search page.
You can get the Kindle Reader App for just about any device so you don't even need to own a Kindle to get the Kindle version. Get you Kindle Reader App here.
Friday, 11 May 2012
Mars Exile: Second Chances Published
Mary Grenthorpe is a volunteer, an ex-astronaut with more missions behind than ahead of her. David Brennan os a young man who is banished to Mars for the crime of being in the wrong company at the wrong time. They find themselves at the beginnings of a new society.As a new outpost is set up on Mars for the first time, will the differences between these two people create a two class society or will they learn from the lesons of the past on Earth? How hard is it to stop history repeating itself?
Set in the near future as mankind starts to establish outposts on its nearest neighbour. The battle for a just society wages between those who would bring old prejudices with them from Earth and those who would dream of a new society. Could Mars be a place where second chances become reality?
Published in Paperback and eBook. Purchase direct from Lulu.com. Available soon on Amazon and Nook.
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