The Space Elevator to Mars - Descent At Dusk

About 40 hours of work on this massive photomanipulation, made in high definition. I first built a 3D model (in Blender) of the whole area thanks to NASA topographic data (MGS MOLA), set the correct light and then photo-manipulated it carefully in Gimp, adding layers of color map (Viking) and high definition texture map (MGS MOC), plus adding the many details. The cable of the space elevator is also a 3D model.
So, we are in a travel cabin, descending along the cable of the space elevator, descending to Sheffield, the spaceport located on top of Pavonis Mons (the central volcano on the image). The time at the surface is dusk, and several large cities are appearing in the dark.
This image is entirely inspired by Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy.

ENJOY IT IN HD HERE.  &  PRINTS AVAILABLE HERE

As always, made 100% open-source on Linux-Ubuntu, with Blender and Gimp.
I'd like to publicly thank Daniel Macháček for his fundamental help in the making of this image, as he taught me how to use the NASA data sets in the best way available. Whithout his help I doubt I would have been able to bring that realism in this picture. Please check out Daniel's astronomy photo-mosaics blog : http://my-favourite-universe.blogspot.fr/
I want also to thank NASA and USGS for the wonderful and free data made available in such a cool way.
I mostly used MapAPlanet www.mapaplanet.org/

If you want to follow me on Facebook, here I am !
Finally, let me recommend you the excellent kimstanleyrobinson.info website, where you'll get to know everything about KSR's books, past, present and upcoming. A site worth following, on FB and Twitter too !

Mars Space Elevator Triptych Poster

Something like 5 hours on Inkscape in the middle of the night, and here is my poster for the space elevator as described in Red Mars !

The background is my photomanipulation triptych turned black and white and put a little darker.

Mars and the space elevator

Finally my space elevator triptych is completed, with this last sight caught between the two ends of the cable. On this point of view we are still very close to the surface and very very far to the mid-distance of the cable, still thousands kilometers away ! Anyway, enjoy the view and take a look at the full triptych.

I made this picture with GIMP on Linux-Ubuntu.

This new photo-manipulation is based on the huge photographic mosaic of the Nasa Viking 1 Orbiter shots by Daniel Machácek. This original picture looks to the east, on Argyre Planitia. For more information on this region, see here.

A special space elevator poster is coming very soon...

Clarke and the space elevator

I go on with the Space Elevator theme, with this new photomanipulation showing the "space end" of the cable. In Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson tells the setting of an asteroid in high martian orbit, as a necessary mass keeping the space elevator cable straight. This asteroid, Clarke, is named after science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, who described the space elevator concept in one of his novels. (learn more here) KSR imagines that the cable is made directly from Clarke, with the asteroid's material, mined and turned in carbon nanotubes, made in space !
This photomanipulation works with the previous one, that showed Sheffield, the town where the cable rises from the surface of Mars. KSR describes the cable as being 35.000 km long and 10m thick.
More than just a useful mass for the cable's balance, Clarke is a base in itself, a spaceport full of docks, living and working areas for the people involved in space travel, space cargos as well as a spacious station for travellers of all kinds. What we don't see in the picture are the spaceships waiting for passengers leaving Mars or bringing new ones to Mars.

For the manipulation, I've used elements from a photo of the ISS by NASA, and a shot of Saturn's moon Phoebe for the asteroid (photo). The entrance of the cable is a small part of a photo of Kuala Lumpur's skyscrapers by Paul Mannix (original photo).

I made this picture with GIMP on Linux-Ubuntu.

Ascending Pavonis Mons up to Sheffield

Imagine yourself in the warmth of a comfortable rover, automatically ascending the endless flank of Pavonis Mons, one of Mars' giant volcanos. Outside, the temperature is below -120°C. Up there on the horizon, slowly appearing is the shining tent of Sheffield, the famous liftport of the space elevator. The elevator's cable stands straight and disappears among the stars. This all makes you feel you already are in orbit...

Sheffield is 3 kilometres away. You will be there in half an hour. The intense town's activity, busy with hundreds of passengers for the cable, will be a huge contrast to the lonely and silent ascent you just accomplished in the dark and red night. Altitude 14 km, where starts the space elevator that will take you right in space in a few hours.

As said on MangalaWiki, "because of its high altitude, Sheffield is condemned to remain a tented city."

This photo-montage is a lot inspired by a sequence in Red Mars : Ann Clayborne alone in her rover, making the very very long ascent of Olympus Mons and going so high that it feels like in space. This photo-montage here is a kind of transcription of this scene on Pavonis Mons.

(Made with TheGimp on Linux-Ubuntu)

Milky Way photo from ALMA by (European Southern Observatory) ESO/José Francisco Salgado.

Sheffield and the space elevator

Here is a new montage showing the base of the space elevator on the tented town called "Sheffield", built on the summit of Pavonis Mons volcano (see Red Mars). The cable is supposed to be 10m thick, which means here than Sheffield city is very big here, at a large level of development. On the foreground, you can see coloured urban lights. I imagine the main entry to the planet's surface would like to be a rich and welcoming show for new settlers. I also imagine the tent' skin would be blue, to balance the so red and grey landscape.

(Made with The Gimp on Linux-Ubuntu)

For details on the space elevator in KSR's Mars trilogy, read the space elevator page of MangalaWiki, the wiki of KSR-info. 

The space elevator cable fall - behind the horizon

And here is a second montage of the cable fall. A falsely peaceful vision.
By day this time, we behold the cable falling from the sky and flaming the clouds before crashing behind this horizon.

I made this montage with a photo of a fantastic sunset I've witnessed last year : this "burning" sky you see is not fake. I just had to put the cable on it !
(plus the starship, mountains and foreground elements of course !)

(Made with The Gimp on Linux-Ubuntu)

The space elevator cable fall - night aerial view

One of the most impressive event in KSR's Mars trilogy is definitely the fall of the space elevator's cable on Mars. The cable is so long it wraps twice around the planet's equator ! And when entering the atmosphere, if burns and finally crashes heavily on landscapes and human settlements. The cable is supposed to have a 10m diameter. Just imagine the mess...
So, here is a new photo montage I just made, showing an aerial point of view on the cable falling just near a tent and roads. I imagined what it would look like in the night, with the burning cable lighting the darkness like an apocalyptic devil tail. As you can see, it's just one second before it hits the ground.

(Made with The Gimp on Linux-Ubuntu)

I must say I've made this picture with John Harris' "electric" visions in mind. In many of his paintings, you can feel the atmosphere cracking just before the cataclysm. If you don't know yet his art, please take a look !

Montages - L'ascenseur spatial au loin

Je viens de réaliser ce montage via TheGimp. Sur un paysage du documentaire Voyage autour du Soleil, j'ai dessiné le câble de l'ascenseur spatial et 2 cabines, dont une brillant au dessus du soleil.
J'ai essayé d'être le plus réaliste possible. Ainsi, le câble disparait dans la lumière du soleil et sa couleur réelle est filtrée par l'atmosphère, qui lui donne donc un ton brun comme le ciel.
C'est aussi par réalisme que j'ai rendu le câble si discret, si fin. Et encore, même là, ça n'est pas très réaliste si l'on considère que sa base est derrière l'horizon et qu'il fait 10m de diamètre ! Si c'était vraiment exact, je crois qu'on ne le verrai même pas...
Kim Stanley Robinson imagine que les humains, à partir des années 2050 environ sont techniquement capables de produire ainsi un gigantesque cable pour relier le sol à l'orbite de la planète, pour éviter aux transports les risques de l'entrée dans l'atmosphère et de consommation au décollage conventionnel. Bref, l'ascenseur spatial est un élément clé de la trilogie martienne et j'avais envie de l'illustrer de façon réaliste depuis un moment. J'en parlerai plus en détail bientôt. C'est un truc de dingue..

M.A.J du 20 oct : Une version alternative du montage suite à des conseils d'ami (voir commentaires). Le câble est maintenant carrément un fil lumineux quand il passe devant le soleil. Je pense que là ça marche vraiment bien... Et puis une autre vue du câble depuis une baie vitrée. Cette fois-ci, il y a une légère perspective, car l'observateur se trouve dans Sheffield, la ville où se trouve la base de l'ascenseur spatial...

Un illustrateur espagnol très prometteur

Parmi mes motivations pour ouvrir ce blog spécial Mars, il y a eu la rencontre (via internet) avec Carlos Núñez de Castro Torres (dit "Carlos NCT") un jeune illustrateur espagnol bien fun, dont j'ai découvert par hasard les dessins il y a quelques mois, sur un forum bien caché ! Il travaille principalement à la palette graphique, et à réalisé cette série martienne à l'occasion d'un examen des Beaux Arts. Avec précision et des cadrages efficaces, il a illustré plusieurs scènes de la trilogie de KSR : l'ascenseur avec son socle et son sommet, la monumentale chute du cable, les dômes, la cité subglaciaire de Zygote, le tunnel de Dorsa Brevia, les barrages transclucides, les cents premiers...
Bref, de très belles visions, avec de superbes couleurs, qui trouvent parfaitement leur place sur ce blog. Je le félicite pour cette mise en image vraiment réussie, fidèle aux livres.
Alors, ce qui est cool, c'est qu'il a même monté une vidéo, en musique s'il vous plaît !
A télécharger ici.
J'espère que ça motivera certains à se plonger dans la lecture, ne serait-ce que de Mars la Rouge !
Pour voir d'autres oeuvres de Carlos NCT, visitez son portfolio.