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An extreme experience of space tourism

All of us have dreamt of performing extreme sports, like those of great athletes

Even the sports that no one can perform at present because of current human limitations, may become a reality not too faraway.

This lens is about three androids of the 23rd century, climbing the deepest canyon not only of Mars but also of the whole solar system: Valles Marineris.

Before you start reading, I suggest you have a look at the Nasa videos. They are very well-done and really enjoyable, especially the first one.

You will find a surprising poll at the end...

 

Images by courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech


READ THE ALPHA CENTAURI PROJECT (THINKING WORLDS)
An inspirational novel about emerging technologies
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WATCH THESE FANTASTIC NASA VIDEOS:




Mars deepest canyon: Valles Marineris

Facts about Mars




From Wikipedia:
Space tourism
Extreme sport
Extreme tourism
Beyond human limitations
Androids
Facts about Mars

A SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL : THE ALPHA CENTAURI PROJECT


These chapters are from a science fiction novel, "The Alpha Centaury Project (Thinking worlds)", that I wrote a few years ago. It is the story of three digital beings that have entered the body of an android to enjoy their Martian holidays. According to some scientists and trashumanists, digitized beings could achieve similar characteristics (See my lens "Transhumanism, technological singularity and cyborgs"). Here below a short description of their future world:


Humans live on Earth and the Moon. Mars and the Net are inhabited by artificial intelligences and souls obtained by digitizing the brain after death.

An advanced virtual reality allows the digital beings to communicate with the humans. Alternatively, they can install themselves in an android for a journey in the material world.

The digital beings have also the possibility of moving almost instantaneously among Net computers and covering the interplanetary spaces at light speed, having themselves transported by radio or luminous signals...

PLANNING EXTREME SPACE TOURISM

Beyond human limitations



The three companions wanted to mark the beginning of the new century with an out of the ordinary holiday. As in the previous years, they could choose one of the many proposals of Net, but this time they wished to measure themselves against the real world.

Finally, they opted for the Jupiter satellites.

Europa, the most sought-after destination of space tourism. A splendid view of the imposing planet, plowed with deep stripes and continuous storms, covering most of the sky. An interminable ice pack furrowed now and then with wide fractures from which volcanic water spurts. Underneath, ice caves dozens of kilometers long, and down in the depths, an ocean inhabited by rare luminescent creatures.

Io, the antechamber to Hell. Lava rivers, ash plumes and sulphur boiling lakes.

The Jupiter aerial mines. Colossal factories hanging from aerostatic balloons, which extract a helium isotope used as nuclear fuel from the atmosphere...

Just a few weeks before their departure, a business engagement arose. They fell back on a much shorter holiday, for only three days but guaranteeing intense emotions. They were going to climb a Mars canyon. Not one of the many, but the deepest chasm in the solar system.

Notwithstanding their haste, they studied the preparations in the smallest detail. As for the equipment, the choice fell on the latest android model: a two-meter-tall body made of ultralight material, strengthened with carbon nanotubes; the rock-climber's dream.

Mars desert


From Wikipedia:
Mars desert

Flyover of Mars desert


Here they are on Mars, transported by laser beams. Inside their new bodies, lined up along a wall of a room crammed with equipment. Cold, the only noise the humming of the devices. They exchange a few jokes, then set out along a deserted corridor, following the markings on the map that appears in their visual fields. Their footsteps resound against the metal walls, every now and then distant echoes reach them.

They step into a garage. A hovering ovoid(*) approaches. The doors slide open. They get in. Soft gray seats. From behind, arms like hoses wrap them gently. The automatic pilot wishes them a nice stay.

The nacelle fills up with colors. A powerful acceleration. The aircraft darts out of the garage through a round opening and heads for Mars desert. Behind, the white spot of the rapidly receding base, shows up in the middle of the red sand like a diamond dropped from the sky.

C573Y raises his eyes towards Phobos, one of the two small Martian moons. Its long and lumpy shape has never stopped amazing him. Nearby, three new stars are twinkling: Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria, the spacecrafts of the Alpha Centauri project, one kilometer wide spheres, orbiting around the planet at twenty thousand kilometers.

Smaller lights crown them: the assembly stations of the shipyard - now inactive after ten years of intense activity - and the freighters intent on transferring - from their huge tanks - the nuclear fuel extracted from the atmosphere of Jupiter and Uranus.


(*) Small aircraft

Valles Marineris

The deepest canyon of Mars and the whole solar system


From Wikipedia:
Valles Marineris , Mars canyon

An extreme sport

Beyond human limitations


The ovoid flies low over the desert, covered here and there by frayed carbon dioxide clouds. An hour later, it plunges with a sharp turn, into Valles Marineris, a deep wound in the Mars crust. On both sides, sheer cliffs, rock spikes and inlets, on the bottom an interminable expanse of rocks and sand.

The aircraft goes beyond a small settlement under construction - yards packed with equipment and robots busy assembling prefabricated modules - and skims over a series of high dunes on which the wind has drawn thin waves.

It heads for a gorge and lands at about two hundred meters from a face. When the doors open, the passengers sink their boots into the soft light sand, nearly a dust. Icy and rarefied air. Not far, a whirlwind is running along the slope of a dune.

The androids raise their eyes towards the wall. Its boundaries are lost on the horizon, and the rock columns crowning it look like claws gripping the sky. It is covered with friable sediments, a serious danger even for the most expert climbers. To be avoided, not to be forced into difficult detours.

C573Y draws a piton out of his rucksack. A simple piton. It couldn't be otherwise: the great challenges require lack of means and out of the ordinary capabilities. As the Titans did in ancient times.

They climb as fast as spiders. Tiny figures on an ochre sheet. Mechanical movements, meter after meter, always with the same concentration. Their glance towards the sky, because it is there they will have the impression of being, once on the top.

No problems for almost a day. Till they hear a distant rumble. Excited cries. Frenzied gestures, someone points at a recess. They rush into it.

A dark front of sand and rocks is swooping down, carrying away the projections along the way, devouring the wall. A threat that not even the climbing androids - technological jewels of the 24th century - can withstand.

They keep still, staring at the wall of powder bursting into the shelter and covering their shields with a thick layer.

The night.

Endless.

Passed exchanging impressions and stories. Lit by the beam of a torch, that makes features of faces and bodies emerge from the darkness, reabsorbing them with each movement.

From time to time, distant bangs. Thunder? Slides?

All night.

A series of whistles and whispers announces the day. A sweet and nostalgic singsong. The lament of a wife grieving over her companion who has left on a long journey...

They stick their heads out of the shelter. The sunlight floods them. Jagged rocks of all dimensions stretch out clearly from the flumes, up to the horizon. The sky is spotless bright pink.

"Look!" cries C573Y, pointing his arm at four shadows with delicate features and their hair in the wind. He didn't expect them.

Then he turns in the opposite direction. "Come!"

Again in the chasm, clinging to the ropes with their backs in the void, they jump along the wall.

They mount a basalt slab and run along.

"The Ladies' song!" announces C573Y. "Many years ago, at the dawning of the colonization, an expedition reported having seen some female figures just around here."

They peep round a boulder. In front, against the sun on the horizon, stand out rock columns surmounted by long filaments.

"Plants which survived the drying up of the planet billions of years ago. The sound is caused by the wind passing between the rocks."

The top of space tourism



Here they are, at the top, sitting side by side on the edge of the precipice, intent on admiring the lights of the little colony many kilometers below. They are about to celebrate the new century.

C573Y becomes dumb. A message has appeared in his visual field:


EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE EMERGENCY MEETING
ON EARTH, IN TWO HOURS
YOUR PARTICIPATION REQUIRED.


He turns towards his companions. "I have received a communication. I must go."

He casts a nostalgic glance towards that alien nature that for two days has charmed him with striking views, that did not hesitate to attack and hunt him even inside his shelter.

A challenge he plunged into without any hesitation.

The three reach a flat space about ten meters further on. They exchange a big hug.

"We will arrange to give back the android," says a companion.

C573Y moves a few steps back. He raises his eyes to the sky, towards a vivid light. In his visual field, appears a menu. He activates the connection with the satellite. Then he sends a message:


REQUEST IMMEDIATE TRANSFER
DESTINATION:
SECURITY GENERAL HEADQUARTERS - EARTH.


He loses his senses. In a few seconds, the programs he is made of are transmitted to the satellite and from there through a laser beam begin their voyage to Earth. The body of the android remains as stiff as a statue, the eyes misted over with indifference.

Half an hour later C573Y wakes up in a Security computer.

His assistant welcomes him, brings him up to date accurately and efficiently, and supplies the documentation. C573Y studies it, prepares a proposal, then activates the transfer.

Now he is in a uniformly lit room, sitting at a table next to the other participants.

"Welcome C573Y," says the man beside him, impeccable in his blue uniform.

"Hello, James."


From: "The Alpha Centauri Project (Thinking worlds)"
© 2009 Marco Santini

Beyond brain simulation : mind uploading


From Wikipedia:
Brain simulation
Blue Brain Project
Mind uploading

A poll about mind uploading

I propose an unusual poll. Its subject may look just odd, but it can also originate some reflections. For sure, it is not a joke: brain simulation studies are accelerating (e.g. Blue Brain Project)
.

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One more question about mind uploading

It is difficult for us, people of the 21st century, express an opinion about something that doesn't exist. I suggest you get free of prejudices, keeping in mind that even the strangest facts may become acceptable very quickly, as experience teaches.

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Other lenses by Marco Santini




The Alpha Centauri project - novel - FREE EBOOK!

Solar system exploration : a fantastic voyage

Human spaceflight: Moon, Mars and beyond - NASA videos

Transhumanism, Technological Singularity and Cyborgs


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science_fiction_novels_cyberpunk


Marco Santini graduated in Engineering and specialized in Business Administration. His work experience ranges from research to management. Deeply interested... more »

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