Martian Solar Storm

One of the things I truly enjoyed about writing The Orthogonal Galaxy was my study of Mars.  It is such a surreal planet, full of fascinating features and atmospheric surprises.  A solar storm recently caused an intense aurora and significant radiation.  In the GIF below, you can see the aurora as an intense semicircle of light appears in the UV animation on the left.




According to the article, "astronauts on Mars would definitely have needed shelter during a storm of this magnitude." I'm glad that NASA is studying the impact of radiation on Mars. With all of the discussion of sending a human to Mars, we need to ensure that it is as safe as possible.  Manned missions to Mars along with talk of colonizing the planet will take an immense amount of preparation (and money!) for visionaries to see their dreams come true... all without the help of the subatomic replicator that my Martian astronauts enjoyed on Camp Mars.