Thu, Mar 28, 1:18 PM CDT

Off Towards Mars Landing

Bryce Science Fiction posted on Jan 14, 2011
Open full image in new tab Zoom on image
Close

Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.


Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.

Description


Here's another image in my Mars Expedition series. On closer inspection I realized I had to redo some details on the Lander, so this took a while. I can't get much art done on the days that I work. But Fridays, I have off. I had to do this scene upside down to get the "Mars in the sky" look, since the sun won't shine beneath the horizon in Bryce, even if there is no land (or water, or air) in the way. The material for the terrain used as Phobos's surface is a happy accident, a color and bump tweak of the randomly assigned texture that came up when I created the terrain. Not sure it's accurate, but until (and if) the Russian Phobos-Grunt probe arrives, it's as good a guess as any. (Oh, yeah, as an aside, after eighteen consecutive entries I'm finally a winner of the Writers of the Future contest! So the practice from writing these little fragments must be paying off. Ironically, the little snippet below is pretty lame.) Thanks for all your views, comments and favorites! --- From Phobos, it's a drop of six thousand kilometers to Mars. Luckily, escape velocity from the little moon is so low a galloping horse could manage it. With the heat shield blocking the main engine, the Universal Lander has only its thrusters to do the job. Fortunately, those little rocket motors feed from the same tanks as the main engine, and the propellant they need for the transfer to Mars still leaves enough for the final moments of the landing and for the return to orbit. After weeks of preliminary exploration of the small moon and a rearrangement of the Expedition Stack, the Lander slowly launches and pivots towards the Red Planet. Using the Stack's heat shield as a base, with the solar array still stowed and the nuclear generator's radiators turned to shadow themselves from the low sun, half the crew watches from the little outpost on Mars's innermost moon as the first two humans to descend to Mars slowly recede into the sky. --Excerpt from UXF promotional material, 2029.

Comments (7)


)

grafikeer

10:59PM | Fri, 14 January 2011

Great texture work in this,and the modelling is well done,as always...congrats on both the winning entry in the writing challenge,and the willpower to keep trying!

)

peedy

12:08AM | Sat, 15 January 2011

Fantastic scene; modeling and lighting! Congrats with 1st prize! Corrie

)

ragouc

3:00AM | Sat, 15 January 2011

Well done.

)

Seaview123

8:20AM | Sat, 15 January 2011

Your work is always impressive. Nice job.

)

wblack

2:05PM | Sat, 15 January 2011

Congratulations on your accomplishment!(in regards to being a winner of the Writers of the Future contest) that's just awesome my friend. Very nice Phobos surface texture -- I really like the idea of using Phobos as a base of operations -- and the orbital dynamics of the moon make it a natural for base selection. I believe that if we are to ever tackle any large scale colonization efforts at Mars Phobos will become a prime logistical target for development. Excellent work all around!

)

SIGMAWORLD

3:33PM | Sat, 15 January 2011

Well done.

)

kjer_99

5:54PM | Sat, 15 January 2011

I tried for a number of years to place in the Writers of the Future contest. Come close one time, but no cigar. So I am both impressed and please for your win. You certainly deserve, of that I am certain. This is a most interesting render. Keep up the great work both in writing and rendering.


0 147 0

CG Spree
3DS Aaralyn Genesis 8.1 Females
3DS Aaralyn Genesis 8.1 Females
$16.95 USD 50% Off
$8.48 USD
Only 10h 41m 22s left!

Privacy Notice

This site uses cookies to deliver the best experience. Our own cookies make user accounts and other features possible. Third-party cookies are used to display relevant ads and to analyze how Renderosity is used. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Terms of Service, including our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy.