Why go to moony crater planets, stormy planets, or out of the way gas giants when you can get to the second Earth in your own back yard? Mars has it all and it’s our next door neighbor. If you get homesick, earth won’t be far away, usually seen orbiting alongside or close by.

Your flight:

Your journey to and from mars will take just over 10 days each way. You will spend this voyage aboard Horizon Jumper, or Universal History, our two luxerious star liners. These ships are not landed on Earth. You will reach your ship via a limited service shuttle which will bring you to the outer atmosphere for a carefully conducted rondezvous in space. Shuttle flights are available at select Gateway airports around the world.

The average speed of our star liners is 200,000 mph- about as close as our current technology will get us to the speed of light. Little fuel is needed ,thanks to inertia.

The ships have a total of 200 comfortable single-occupancy births each. State of the art luxeries accommodate you for the entire flight.

Note that once onboard the ship, it is impossible to opt out of the voyage.

Things to do on Mars:

Rock climbing and hiking- Enjoy treks up a fabulous variety of hills and mountains.

Space skiing- we have coated a choice slope in artificial snow for constant skiing adventures. Ultra-weighted skis are provided. This is a side attraction only, and must be done in short periods to avoid ice burn, against which, we cannot guarantee full protection by the use of comfort suits. Maximum one hour rental and lift will be $200 U.S

Air swimming- The only non-pressurized indoor experience on Mars is our lightness arena, in which you will be able to bounce around fairly easily at the planet’s gravity of about 371 cm/s² . A pressure retaining helmet must be fitted before entering the arena. Note that this is not weightlessnes and law of gravity still applies- Sorry.

Visit the mysterious face on Mars- we have opened the amazing face-shaped mountain for your viewing. You can explore this site by helicopter and group hike for 500 USD. Is it natural or artificial? Decide for yourself!

Visit the Valles Marineris- Join an expedition to part of this incredbily large canyon, many times bigger than the Grand Canyon and as large as the distance between New York and Los Angeles.

Ride through the dark areas- These formations were first observed by Giovanni Schiaparelli, who described them as channels, though the translation is commonly confused for canals, and later by Percival Lowell who believed the channels were canals.

Scientists attribute these paths to either liquid water movement, or the movement of underground water as liquid or ice.

However these basins were formed, you can ride through part of one on a Marbus.

Worldly excursions- Mars is a much smaller planet than earth, (about 1 tenth of the size) and has no oceans, thus promoting circumnavigational travel. 10 day Super jet excursions (traveling an average speed of 400 mph) around the length of mars are available for a mere $800 US.

Red dirt racing- Mascar invites you to attend one of its fabulous Mars Series races at the Red Soil track, a short distance from your hotel. Admission for most races is $75 U.S.

View an active volcano- See a Martian Volcano, such as Mons Olympus and from within the saftey of a plane. $300 U.S.

MarbusÔ trips to local destinations are available at no additonal cost, as guided tours from your hotel.

Marbus is a fine line of vehicles designed by Volvus, exclusively for use on Mars, with added mass. You can order a used Marbus for around $300 million U.S, but note that the increased mass of the vehicle may make it difficult to operate on earth. Also note that vehicles take a good beating from Martian terrain and are sold “as is.”

Accomodations:

Your living quarters during your visit to Mars will consist of a luxerious efficency in our magnificent Red Planet hotel, strategically located on the Martian equator opposite the Valles Marineris.

Oxygen is constantly emulated (even with shower water), with a pleasing scent. In your own room, you may select from a variety of fragrances for your oxygen.

Due to lack of liquid water on Mars, no swimming pool or bath is provided. Additonally, your bathroom water is controlled by timed cut-offs, and all water is recycled.

Advanced heating and insulation retains earth temperatures in a fatally cold environment.

Each room is equipped with entertainment centers featuring DVDs and videogames. Guests also have direct access to many other rewarding activities such as space ball, and cosmic bowling, as well as travel connections to many select destinations on Mars.

You will be provided with two complimentary minutes of Mars-to-Earth radio communication time per day. Calls are routed through a satellite of earth. Additional frequency usage can be purchased at the cost of $120 US per minute.

Useful information:

Phobos and Deimos, the two deformed moons of Mars are not a valid travel destination because they are impractically far away from Mars and rotate much too fast. However, if the captain of your incoming or outgoing shuttle flight should encounter any of the asteroids or satellites around Mars, he or she will make their best effort to chase it down and land on it, for a short in-craft look. We have not had such a landing to date.

One day on Mars is equivalent to about 24 hours and 37 earth minutes. official time from the moment you enter the ship to the moment you return to earth is kept in days of that length (i.e there are 37 minutes after 12 am in the hour 00), astronomically corresponding with the part of Mars on which you will be located, for best daylight usage. We expect you’ll be able to get a little more sleep than normal, while on Mars.

Every facility and vehicle from your initial shuttle on, is pressurized at 940 cm/s² (Earth gravity) for your comfort. Without pressurization, you would weigh about 30% of your normal weight and may experience nosebleeds or discomforts of the inner ear. For your saftey, there is no way to exit the hotel without applying a comfort suit or entering a transport vehicle in docking.

Comfort suits are issued at all outdoor travel points on Mars. They include an oxygen supply, solar sheild, advanced thermal protection against the intense surface temperatures (about -190° F.)

Outdoor events can be cancelled at any time due to wind, which is not uncommon on Mars. Winds can reach around 170 mph. You can expect many cancellations due to wind. We also caution you on extreme turbulence on all air travel around Mars, because of this.

A subway system has been created in the greater hotel area, with tunnels that had to be formed in soil packed with solid ice. This train service is provided to reduce the events cancelled due to winds. Volcanic activity is not expected in the area, though it could occur at any time.

Due to reduced traffic on the surface of Mars, pilots, drivers, and all other vehicle operators with the exception of shuttle and ship crewmembers, are not required to hold licenses in their respective vehicle, and with the thin atmospehere already full of Carbon dioxide, pollution is not an issue.

Rules:

For your comfort and saftey, a few governing laws have been put in place for all visitors of the Martian planet. Violation of any of these laws will result in the soonest available discharge of the violater from the planet, without exception or refund.

1. No person may go without oxygen or interfere with any other person’s oxygen supply at any time. The 95% carbon dioxide atmosphere will quickly cause shortness of breath and loss of consciousness.
2. No person may travel about the planet without the direct guidance of a GGC employee. This keeps you safe from strong dust storms and protects scientific research sites from interference.
3. GCC is not responsible for any incident during this voyage resulting in disfigurement, disability, misfortune, pain, handicap, being lost in space, or loss of liberty, limbs, property or life as a result of your participation. We also reserve the right to not answer to any religious group who tells us that humans weren’t meant to go to Mars.

Galactic Getaways Corporation

The original Mars Developers

Kojones film is the official recommendation of photographic material for visitors to Mars. It’s the only brand of film sold on Mars.

Viza is the official credit card of Mars. Viza- it’s everywhere.

For more information on visiting Mars, we suggest you see "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" or "The Zagat Survey Guide to Mars".

Bilbographic referrences:

Books:

Tarbuck and Lutgens, Earth Science, seventh ed. (1994), Macmillan Publishing Co. –

p. 617/ p. 619-621

Encyclopedias:

New Book of Knowledge (1991), Grolier Int’l Corp.- vol. 12 p. 104-111

Websites:

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets