A trip to Mars? - One ticket for somewhere...

I realized the topic "One ticket for somewhere" would make a decent blog post. What if you had one mega ticket that could take you anywhere in the present universe or the past/future? Where would you go?

Here's my iteration:

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Only one ticket? In that case, I would let loose my imagination...

...Here I am on a space shuttle to Mars, with Elon Musk and a dozen lucky others. The experience on the shuttle itself would be a long one. Seven months of nothingness… Well, at least I can see more stars, than from Earth’s cities. Sun, shrinking smaller and smaller in the distance, reminding me how far away from my home I am going. Reaching into the depths of this solar system’s mysteries, I do not know what to expect.

Seven months seem long but in reality, when you are constantly amused, it really isn’t that long. After all, what is a day when all you are doing is, moving further into space, always facing away from the Sun. Playing around in zero-gravity is a lot of fun. Potentially, you could make everything you do into play up here - eating, drinking, reading and other chores. Virtually, you have a table everywhere - place something out there and it will stay there as though a magic spell has been cast on it. This fun life turns to a few hours of agony once you land on soil… No, no, not regular soil… It’s Martian soil.

Seven months of zero-gravity life is suddenly exposed to red barren land and gravity about one-thirds as strong as Earth’s. My muscles are agonizing under the new felt force. I work against the sudden change of forces and it seems to help a bit. So, what next? Of course, head out for nothing… Musk’s crew’s objective is to turn that nothing into something. We are here to check the vitality of this spherical rock. We put on our heavy (according to Earthlings) suits - suits that provide us heat, oxygen, remove carbon dioxide, protect us from hazards and basically everything. We leave our space shuttle for a walk - the first Martian walk.

What do I expect? Ice cream stands and a theme park? Of course, not. Walking through the Martian sand dunes just feels like being in a red desert. Did I mention sand?

We had brought with us all necessary equipment to accomplish what we were there for. We set up the robots, machines on the new land, one that we had come to conquer. The work began. We started looking for resources that are vital for human life in such an hazardous environment - most importantly water. We are nowhere close to the polar caps, and that’s what I know, so where do we go?

Below our shoes. Of course we brought with us a machine to do this for us. Digging right through, we expect to find water after days of work. About 37 days on Earth would equal 36 on Mars, so I can omit the effort of referring to “Martian days” every once in a while. But, speaking of effort, I could probably defeat every Martian (if they exist) out there, considering I am now about three times stronger than on Earth!

“We found water!”. That’s what I hear one fine morning. Now, that is very very close to setting up a civilization on Mars… or is it? We rejoice, forgetting how much of our resourceful body energy will drain in the freezing cold temperatures a few inches from our skin. The mission was a success! So am I done with this adventurous trip? Probably...

...The only catch is that I am left to wonder how am I coming back to Earth, considering I had only one ticket in the first place… Simple. I just have to wake up.

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-Suhas

27/11/16