First city on Mars – what’s it called?

Ed: This very popular article was first published by Jon on our old site March 1, 2024. It’s definitely one for the keeper.

Like stardust
and feathers
exploding in
perpetual flower
with unending grace
into the permeable night
we pass –

2^nd Incantation (AB)

My first port of call was to think about what we know of the first cities on Earth, should we resurrect them in the name of exploration and settlement of mankind’s first off-world home – The Red Planet. The first one would need to be auspicious. About names and some contenders later, first a light flurry on naming.

City names on Mars may be named in respect to their location, founder, company or space project. Location for early settlements and particularly the first settlement or city on Mars will need natural resources such as water and fuel source for power, vital minerals and construction materials, protection from the sun’s radiation and small meteorites, and steady temperature control eg underground or near the equator:

• Martian pole with access to water
• Caves provide shelter from the Martian sun and surface
• Martian lava tube and skylights on the flanks of Arsia Mons
• Hellas Planitia is a large meteorite impact basin in the Mars southern hemisphere with some of the deepest points on Mars where there might be water
• Near the equator at low altitude where there is accessible water perhaps a few meters below a regolith, protection from radiation and highest temperature up to 20c at noon, much of the planet is very cold (dry Antarctic desert)
• Northern Lowlands
• Phoenix landing site maybe one of the most habitable zones

Some named geological features on Mars: Tharsis (volcano), Valles Marineris (deep canyon), Hellas and Borealis (crater/impact basins), Mount Olympus (highest mountain), Phoenix (Mars explorer landing, meaning firebird) – but landing on Mars is a challenge.

Urban Architecture studio ABIBOO has revealed plans to create the first self-sustainable city on the Red Planet, which is set to be ready for residents in 2100. The city will be called Nüwa, located at Tempe Mensa on a Martian cliff. Nüwa is a mother goddess in Chinese folk religion, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven.

Why – and How – NASA Gives a Name to Every Spot It Studies on Mars – But then why should NASA have it all their way, this is the whole of humanity we are speaking of, stepping out of their comfort zone.

Naming the first city on Mars

Some tributes – this was fun researching:

Anthropolis, Anthropos, Tetratos, Tessares, Tetra, Tetros, Eruthros, Erithrea, Elpis.

Anthropolis Ἀνθρόπολις (‘Human city’: Invented name derived from ‘metropolis’, large city or capital, combining anthro- ‘human’ and -polis ‘city’ from ancient Greek: The Acropolis, ancient citadel on a rocky outcrop, acro- ‘high’ above the city of Athens), Anthropos ἄνθρωπος (mankind), Tetratos τέταρτος (meaning ‘fourth’ referring to first city on fourth planet from the sun) or Tessares τέσσαρες (four) and could be abbreviated just to Tetra or Tetros, Eruthrosἐρυθρός (Red, ‘red city’ erythrocyte, a living planetary red blood cell), Erithrea Ἐρυθρὰ (derived from the Greek term Sinus Erythraeus meaning Red Sea), Elpis ἐλπίς (hope, ancient Greek goddess who saved mankind from evils of the world unleashed by Pandora).

Terra Nova, Urbs, Urbs Mons, Primus, Initium, Mamart, Martis, Maris, Hominum, Rubrum.

Terra Nova (‘new land’ in latin), Urbs (latin for ‘city’), Urbs Mons (‘city mountain’ in latin after Olympus Mons largest mountain on Mars), Primus (latin: first), Initium (latin: beginning/from the, going in), Mamart (oldest recorded latin form of Mars and likely of foreign origin), Martis (of Mars in latin), Maris (derivative of Mars and Etruscan child-god), Hominum(mankind), Rubrum (red).

Çatalhöyük, Perkunos, Perkuna.

Çatalhöyük (first city/proto-city in human history in Anatolia, Turkey from 7,500 BC and translated means çatal ‘fork’ and höyük ‘tumulus’ or mound from human settlement, located close to the river Euphrates), Perkunos or Perkuna (proto-Indo-European weather god of rain invoked in times of drought).

Primera, Lejos, Casa, Sierra Marte, Casa Marte, Casaroja, Colorado.

Spanish new world – Primera (first), Lejos (far away), Casa (home or house), Sierra Marte(saw or mountain range on Mars), Casa Marte (home on Mars), Casaroja (red home), Colorado (red).

Nāgarī नगर, Mangala मङ्गल, Lohita लोहित, Pratidhi प्रतिधी, Apêksh आशा, Manvantara मन्वन्तर, Antara अन्तर, Turiya तुरीय, Aruna अरुण.

Sanskrit is commonly regarded as the first spoken human language, 5,000 BC from which all languages of the world have originated – Nāgarī नगर (City), Mangala मङ्गल (personification of Mars and name for planet Mars – also means auspicious and successful), Lohita लोहित (the red one), Pratidhi प्रतिधी (Hope), Apêksh आशा (Hope), Manvantara मन्वन्तर (Mankind), Antara अन्तर (Interior, of a body), Turiya तुरीय (meaning ‘the fourth’ and referring to first city on fourth planet from the sun, also refers to the true self (atman) beyond the three common states of consciousness (waking, dreaming, and dreamless deep sleep), Aruna अरुण (charioteer of Surya the Sun god and means ‘red’).

Tolkāppiyam தொல்காப்பியம், Akananuru அகநானூறு, Akanuru.

Tamil may be older than Sanskrit 5,000 BC – Tolkāppiyam தொல்காப்பியம் (means ‘ancient book, text or poem’ is the most ancient extant Tamil text and classical work mentioning Hindu deities including god/s and godess of Mars), Akananuru அகநானூறு or shorten it to Akanuru (‘the 400’ – oldest classical Tamil work of 400 love poems).

Eridu.

Sumerian dated 3200 BC – Eridu (oldest city in Sumer, ancient Mesopotamia and its patron god Ea (Enki) ‘lord of the sweet waters that flow under the earth), current southern Iraq.

Memphis, Menes, Thebes, Thebos, Faiyum.

Egyptian – Memphis or Menes (first city in ancient Egypt/and founder), Thebes (may be as old or older) and could vary name to Thebos which would resonate with the two Mars moons Phobos and Deimos, Faiyum (also listed as oldest city in Egypt and Africa) kind of resonates with Elysium and Initium (suggested earlier).

Madjedbebe, Uluru.

Aboriginal: DNA/genomic study has found evidence of a single human migration out of Africa and confirmed that Aboriginal Australians are the world’s oldest civilization dating back at least 75,000 years, and of course Australia is a red continent with a famous red centre, as Mars is the red planet with its famous Mount Olympus – Madjedbebe (oldest known site showing presence of humans in Australia, first occupied by humans 60,000-70,000 years ago), Uluru (red inselberg ‘island mountain’ ancient rocky outcrop at heart of Australia’s red centre)

City of Khoisan.

Africa: Long regarded the cradle of modern human civilization – City of Khoisan (modern Khoisan people are indigenous to South Africa and split from other Homo Sapiens 150,000-90,000 years ago).

Something simple – Red City (RC) or space age and Monty – RC Prime. A century or two earlier HG Wells would have had a bash, but in 1898 Martians invaded us, enter Holst.

To see the great province of houses, dim and blue through the haze of the smoke and mist, vanishing at last into the vague lower sky, to see the people walking to and fro among the flower beds on the hill, to see the sight-seers about the Martian machine that stands there still, to hear the tumult of playing children, and to recall the time when I saw it all bright and clear-cut, hard and silent, under the dawn of that ‘first’ great day…

(29 February 2024) OMG a Leap Year, maybe we will get their sooner!

Update – 3 of NASA’s missions to Mars

Operating on Mars’ Chryse Planitia for more than six years, Viking 1 performed the first Martian soil sample using its robotic arm and a special biological laboratory. While it found no traces of life, Viking 1 did help better characterize Mars as a cold planet with volcanic soil, a thin, dry carbon dioxide atmosphere and striking evidence for ancient river beds and vast flooding [JPL, California, Mars landing 1976].

Viking 1 (NASA), launched aboard a Titan IIIE rocket August 20, 1975 and arrived at Mars on June 19, 1976. The first month was spent in orbit and on July 20, 1976 Viking Lander 1 separated from the Orbiter and touched down at Chryse Planitia.

First Mars Landscape Panorama, Viking 1 Lander (NASA) Chryse Planitia, July 20,1976

Smart little codger preparing the way – Curiosity Rover landed on the Red Planet in Gale Crater on 5th August 2012. Mission: Has Mars ever had the right environmental conditions to support small life forms, microbes? Curiosity explored the ‘habitability’ of Mars. It found evidence of water, chemicals, minerals, nutrients and energy sources that microbes could have used, and established that Mars had regions that could have supported life in the ancient past.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at the ‘Big Sky’ site on October 6, 2015, 1,126^th Martian day (sol) of the mission, collecting it’s fifth sample of Mount Sharp. The rock drilled at this site is sandstone in the Stimson geological unit in Gale Crater.

Dingo Gap (Mars), Curiosity Rover, February 9, 2014 – Looking back at dune – NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover drove across on the 538^th Martian day (sol), three days earlier.

More than 11 years over a harsh, extremely cold and dusty, radiated landscape without company or maintenance and still roving in 2024.

Curiosity Rover’s younger cousin and later mission – Perseverance landed on 18th February, 2021,Jezeror Crater, Mars. Mission: To seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for return to Earth. Did life take hold on the Red Planet? Perseverance takes the next step by looking for signs of past life itself. Main objectives:

1. Geology: Study rocks and landscape at landing site to reveal the region’s history
2. Astrobiology: Determine whether area of interest was suitable for life, and look for signs of ancient life itself
3. Sample Caching: Find and collect promising samples of Mars rock and soil that could be brought back to Earth in future missions
4. Prepare for Humans: Test technologies that would help sustain human presence on Mars someday

The rover has made discoveries about the volcanic history, habitability, and role of water in Jezero Crater. It has been collecting diverse, compelling samples of rock and regolith for retrieval and return to Earth. Scientists hope to advance the search for signs of past life on Mars and gain insights into the evolution of Mars.

Technology aboard Perseverance has made significant strides towards future human exploration on Mars – Small lightweight oxygen-generating technology (MOXIE) which can be scaled up, completed its final run in September 2023 and created up to 12 grams of breathable oxygen an hour from the Martian atmosphere. Continuous operation over 24 hours would be sufficient to sustain an astronaut for up to 10 hours. These studies are all programmed and conducted by remote control over huge distances.

Perseverance (NASA) Rochette, September 10, 2021

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on September 10, 2021, 198^th Martian day (sol) of the mission. Two holes are visible where the rover used its robotic arm to drill rock core samples in Jezero Crater.

Mars Ingenuity Helicopter (NASA) at Wright Brothers Field on April 6, 2021, its third day of deployment on Mars (sol 46)

(3 March 2024)

Update – Q & A

Q1 Where will we get oxygen to breathe and water to survive on Mars?

‘Technology aboard Perseverance has made significant strides towards future human exploration on Mars – Small lightweight oxygen-generating technology (MOXIE) which can be scaled up, completed its final run in September 2023 and created up to 12 grams of breathable oxygen an hour from the Martian atmosphere. Continuous operation over 24 hours would be sufficient to sustain an astronaut for up to 10 hours’.

The Martian atmosphere is 96% Carbon Dioxide, which means there is significant locked atmospheric oxygen (despite low pressure and concentration) that could be extracted through plants and bacteria cultivation in an ecologically closed environment through photosynthesis. There are plants on Earth that are able to do this night and day and have a high capacity to convert C02 to 02, and Pre-Cambrian Earth was naturally terraformed by cyanobacteria from a predominant methane atmosphere to oxygen and nitrogen, known as the great oxidation event. We don’t have the resources and technology to terraform the planet surface-atmosphere, but we can produce an artificial atmosphere in an enclosed surface structure or in subterranean environments.

Thirdly, there is evidence of substantial water, mostly in the form of ice at the poles, deep canyons and underground, which could provide recyclable water for drinking, enclosed hydroponics, irrigation and potential further source of conversion to oxygen and hydrogen for power. Mars once had abundant surface water which was stripped by the sun’s rays, weak magnetosphere and gravity, but not all water was lost from Mars, just as we find underground water on Earth and in our artesian basins. The Great Artesian Basin under the Australian Desert contains one of Earth’s biggest reservoirs protected from surface evaporation. Its waters sourced from trapped rain which fell millions of years ago has never seen light of day.

Ice and ice rock is abundant in our solar system, especially in the asteroid belt and Mars has two moons. Some moons around our gas giant planets such as Europa, Ganymede and Titan may have more water than here on Earth, and we have a family of wandering comets and meteors traversing the solar system. These reservoirs, natural resources may become more accessible and transportable than from Earth in future missions to sustain or grow that supply over longer periods.

(7 March 2024)

Original landing 1 March 2024

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