Board game "Conquest of Mars"(Terraforming Mars) became a real sensation at SPIEL 2016 and has not left the top of the ratings since then. Without exaggeration, it can be called the most discussed new product of the year. Largest board game publishers different countries We have already started preparing the localization of this game. The domestic company “Lavka Games” did not stand aside either.
Hurry up to order the game “Conquest of Mars” entirely in Russian directly from the publisher at the best price!
The game, created by veteran Swedish board game developer Jakob Fryxelius and his brothers, is extremely popular abroad. Its rating on the most authoritative website BoardGameGeek is 8.4 (number of voters: more than 3,600 people). In November alone, she immediately climbed 69 places in the list of 100 best games and now ranks 26th.
It is not surprising that after all the pre-orders for the Russian version of the game, the Game Shop still had some left in reserve only 500 boxes. Don't miss yours!
Conquest of Mars is a game about turning the Red Planet into a place similar to Earth. Players will have to change the climate and natural conditions Mars, bringing to life ingenious, strange and breathtaking projects that are actually being discussed in the scientific community at the present time. Despite common goal, players will have to compete with each other, because only the one who conquers Mars will open all the doors of the Earth!
You will learn more about how the gameplay works in the video review in the “Links” section below. 
In this almost two-kilogram box you will find everything you need to colonize an entire planet!
The game “Conquest of Mars” is in high demand in the West, retail price English version starts from 55 euros (excluding delivery). Order the game via Boomstarter right now - and you will get it for just 2850
rubles! 
Note that quality The components of the Russian version are completely identical in quality to the English one. The Russian Conquest of Mars is being published along with the new English edition. Manufacturer - German factory Ludo Fact, one of the largest and modern production board games in the world. 
Distribution of orders for the game “Conquest of Mars” is scheduled for April 2017.
Delivery to settlements Russian Federation, as well as to Minsk, Gomel, Kharkov and Shymkent completely free. That is, if you live in a city in which we have a partner delivery point, then you will pick up the game from it. If our distribution partner is not in your city, then we will send you the game ourselves and at our own expense!
Issuing the game in Republic of Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan costs 300 rub. If there is our partner in your city, you can pick up the game at your own expense, if not, we will send it to you by mail.
In gratitude for your support, we have prepared some interesting gifts.
If the project reaches the amounts indicated below, then the corresponding bonuses will be added to each copy of the game ordered on Boomstarter or earlier.
We have prepared for you a number of additional accessories for the game “Conquest of Mars”. They are not included in the standard package, but at the same time you can hardly do without them when terraforming.
Additional accessories will be delivered to you along with the game. In this case, no additional payment for delivery will be required.
1. Individual tablets
Do not allow cubes to leave the galaxy! Consist of a base and a cover with cutouts for cubes. The product is available only as an additional option for the game "Conquest of Mars", including those purchased via pre-order.
Material: wood and acrylic.
Manufacturer: GAMEFIT company.
Special price: 150 rub. per tablet. Set includes 5 pieces.
2. Organizer + tablets
Designed to store components and designed taking into account all their geometric features. Reduces preparation time for a game and saves space during the game. Indispensable in the low gravity conditions of Mars. The product is available only as an additional option for the game "Conquest of Mars", including those purchased via pre-order.
Material: wood and acrylic
Manufacturer: GAMEFIT company.
Price: 1490 rub.
3. Card protectors
High-quality Mayday protectors, specially selected for the size of gaming cards. Ideally protect your projects from Martian storms and dust. The product is only available as an additional option for the game "Conquest of Mars".
Included 3 packs of 100 pieces.
Special price: 490 rub. per set.
We thank everyone who took part in the project!
Special thanks to the company
The dream of exploring Mars has long gone out of fashion. At the same time, it is absolutely unclear what the person wants to achieve there.
The astronauts make their way through the rust-red sand - euphoric from historical moment and low gravity. Of course they have a camera with them. It takes a quarter of an hour for the first video to reach Earth. And here it is, a message from a distance of 270 million kilometers - “Mars welcomes humanity.”
Will this happen soon? Will people end up on Mars in the near future? This may be the impression these days. Over the past week, NASA's completed experiment has sparked intense reactions. Six young researchers lived in isolation in the highlands of Hawaii for one year to simulate life on Mars. A few months ago the head Space companies X and Tesla Elon Musk said that already in 2025 he plans to begin colonizing our neighboring planet.
Shimmering Ruby
Of course, you can dream 40 years after the robot first landed on the soft sand of Mars. But for now it is nothing more than a dream - a controlled landing on Mars. Overall, this dream should disappoint all its fans. After all, over the past decades, humanity has come virtually no closer to its realization. And so far there is no reason to talk about changes in the near future.
From the Earth's side, Mars looks promising - a shimmering ruby in the night sky, onto which dreamers and science fiction writers have long projected their craving for long journeys. A place that many would like to visit, without knowing exactly why.
Controlled landing on Mars is a dream that disappoints
If we consider Mars from close range, then it loses its charm. This is an icy desert with an average temperature of about minus 50 degrees, where storms can rage for many months. sandstorms. The surface of Mars is dotted with salts, there is no magnetic field, and the ozone layer, which protected living beings from radiation from space.
People could survive here with the help high technology, in limited habitats where climate control would convert carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere into oxygen. Colonists must endure 500 days. Only then will Mars again approach Earth at a distance sufficient for a return flight. At least that’s what the researchers’ concept looks like.
World-weary pioneers of Mars
Another option, offered by private initiatives like Mars One, is to travel without a return flight. Thousands of people have applied online to make history as world-weary pioneers of Mars. Experts agree that volunteers will never fly to Mars. The financial risks of private initiatives are too great.
NASA's plans look much more thoughtful. Since the 90s, mission developments have been on the desks of researchers and are constantly updated. Thus, in the 2030s, a small spacecraft could be sent to Mars for the first time. spaceship with residential modules, supplies and a nuclear mini-reactor. In two years, astronauts could follow them and return to Earth after their stay on the red planet.
However, so far NASA is moving along this plan in roundabout ways. The new SLS launch vehicle and the Orion spacecraft are currently being developed. Both devices are focused on lunar exploration. In the 2020s, astronauts plan to target an asteroid that would previously have been detected spacecraft and placed in lunar orbit. Does this pass? effective preparation Americans to fly to Mars is a controversial issue.
Faster than NASA
Elon Musk plans to get to Mars faster. Already in 2018, the Space X space capsule weighing eight to ten tons should land on the planet. That would make it ten times heavier than the heaviest payload NASA has ever sent to Mars. In the end, Musk thus plans to establish regular cargo deliveries to Mars - to create infrastructure for People who can land on Mars in 2025.
NASA may throw these plans into disarray. For the agency, landing on a desert planet is not an easy topic. On the one hand, NASA's plans to send humans to Mars give it popularity. Mars appears in social work NASA and other space agencies. On the other hand, too specific statements are fraught with danger. Every detailed plan has its price. And an overly expensive budget can quickly cause a project to stall in political debate. This is what NASA faced when George W. Bush announced plans to send humans to Mars by 2018 in 1989. This was supposed to cost up to $540 billion, which was immediately criticized by opponents of the project.
Before today the main reason for skepticism among political leadership is the fact that a flight to Mars will not bring a clearly identifiable profit. This could be a problem for Musk as well. Why is it necessary to send people at great expense across space and at the same time risk their lives?
New continent
Supporters of the project have three arguments ready. First, landing on Mars will give impetus to the search for extraterrestrial life. Earth's neighboring planet may have been warm, abundant water, unlike Earth, billions of years ago. Perhaps life began there, perhaps it continued in the form of microbes. Humans are better able to search for such organisms than robots.
The second reason is that Mars can ensure the survival of humanity. If a comet falls, nuclear war or man-made disaster The Earth will become uninhabitable - a desert planet can become an accessible refuge.
But the most favorite argument is related to a person’s craving for finds. With the help of landing on Mars, humanity will, to a certain extent, enter into new continent, the unexplored America of the 21st century. This, of course, comes with hardships. But nevertheless, such undertakings are worth it, because they expand a person’s horizons, according to supporters of the project.
Price space flights increases incredibly when people fly into space instead of robots
Work in the service of science, life insurance, colossal cultural finds - these reasons, unfortunately, are untenable. Thus, many researchers have mixed feelings about the project of landing humans on Mars. The cost of space travel increases significantly when humans are sent into space instead of robots. Perhaps this money will not be enough to build telescopes or new research satellites. And in fact, humans are not that necessary to search for microbes on Mars. As the next major project NASA plans to use a special SUV to collect soil samples on the surface of Mars and send them back to Earth. Something more essential people they can't do it on Mars.
In addition, you should not direct too much most research budget for Mars. Perhaps it has never been such a cheerful planet as PR specialists from space organizations paint it. Perhaps it was simply an ice-encrusted planet on which glaciers periodically melted due to volcanic eruptions and meteorite impacts.
Last refuge
In this case main reason for the permanent settlement of Mars is fear global catastrophe on the ground. Whether it will be possible to really save humanity with the help of an external shelter on Mars is unclear. The chances of a colony surviving without regular supplies from Earth are very slim.
But what cannot be doubted is this historical importance travel to the red planet. Photos of people kicking up Martian dust will remain in the memory of an entire generation. But is this enough to generate the necessary political will?
The Martian adventure will cost hundreds of billions of francs. And SpaceX's cheaper rocket launches won't cut those costs much. Thus, financing becomes a big challenge, even for the currently incredible coalition of the US, EU, Russia and China. Today, the annual budget of NASA, which, as before, sets the tone in astronautics, is $18 billion. In its heyday during the Apollo program in the 60s, it was twice as large.
To plug these holes, we need a new, compelling reason to send humans to Mars. A business model that will attract public and private investors. Or another impulse besides collecting geological samples. While there is no such motive, landing on Mars remains what it was before - a dream with great potential disappointments.
The planet Mars, or as otherwise often expressed, the Red Planet, is of great interest to humanity. Scientists have been exploring Mars since 1960 using automatic stations.
And according to researchers, Mars has great prospects for human exploration of the planet’s red deserts. It should be noted here that Mars is a planet earth type, and as it turned out recently, the rarefied atmosphere of the planet well protects the surface of Mars from cosmic radiation. So settlers will not have to look for serious shelters from penetrating radiation
One of the similarities between Mars and our planet is the period of rotation and the change of seasons - although the climate on the planet is drier than Earth’s, and much colder. However, as scientists believe, this was not always the case. Now on Mars the climate situation is quite harsh average temperature is?50 °C, fluctuations occur from?153 °C at the pole in winter, and to over +20 °C at midday at the equator.
As researchers suggest, there was once a not so cold climate on Mars, and there was a time when the surface of Mars was covered by seas, oceans, lakes - that is, there was the presence of water in liquid state. But that was a billion or more years ago.
Prospects for the colonization of Mars.
As a promising goal for the development of Mars, the construction of a permanent scientific research habitable base on the planet is considered first of all. The priority task of the base employees will be to study Mars itself and its satellites Phobos and Deimos. And How future goal research base, study of the asteroid belt, and solar system.
Of course, this is resource extraction, because Mars may turn out to be a rich planet in terms of minerals. However, in this case, serious problem represents cargo delivery, high price transportation of goods will not justify the costs. Unless, according to experts, the colonialists discover rare earth metals, - uranium, gold, diamonds, platinum.
And according to some scientists, the situation on Earth has reached the point where humanity needs to think about solving the demographic issue. And it’s not just the threat of overpopulation or the depletion of the Earth’s resources that makes us take a closer look at the issues of planetary colonization.
According to a number of scientists, speaking carefully about this, there is another need to create colonies on Mars.
The fact is that disasters have already happened in the history of the Earth. global scale. For example, falls of large space objects, so huge that a wave of destruction destroyed all life on Earth, rebuilding the surface of the planet anew. When dry land water pools swapped places.
According to research scientists, it is impossible to exclude the fact that from deep space an object of enormous mass may arrive and collide with the planet. And the colossal impact force space object will “shake” the Earth so much that all living things will die. But even in a more favorable scenario, human survival will not be easy.
Indeed, in this case, the entire existence is put at risk human civilization. Even with more favorable development scenario, human survival will not be easy. Dust raised by the impact of a huge object, eruptions from active volcanoes - all this dust and ash - a cinder suspension, will close the planet from the Sun for many years. The temperature will drop to sub-zero for decades - that is, it will be the same as what happened during the death of the dinosaurs.
So, as scientists believe, a person should think about what needs to be done so that the entire earthly culture does not perish. And the option that is seen by researchers thinking in this direction is the creation of settlements on other planets of our system.
The most favorable, and more accessible in this regard, is Mars. Of course, the Moon has not been forgotten, but only in terms of development - an inhabited research base, a kind of outpost of humanity, but nothing more. But with regard to Mars, bold-minded scientists talk about great prospects.
How it is planned to create settlements on Mars.
Initially, it is planned to build a modular research village. Where building material specially made panels delivered from Earth will serve. On Mars, they will be used to assemble residential modules and research laboratory modules.
At the first stage of creating research bases, areas in the equator region are considered. Temperatures are more moderate near the equator. What is more suitable for habitation and further geological exploration Mars, and other research activities.
At the second stage of development, certainly with the success of the primary one, we're talking about already just about creating a colony on Mars. That is, the settlers will begin to build permanent, basic settlements. But permanent settlements are planned to be built from local materials. These will be permanent buildings intended for the residence of colonists and future generations.
Some scientists, looking far ahead, talk about such things as terraforming, when it will be possible to artificially shape the landscape on Mars and change the atmosphere. After all, the current atmosphere of Mars is not suitable for human survival without special protective equipment. But with the help of terraforming, the atmosphere of Mars can be filled with breathable air. – However, this is a very distant prospect.
Difficulties of colonizing planets.
Currently, the development and creation of research bases on any planetary-satellite object in our system is not a simple matter. Difficulties exist not only at the stage of flight, when colonists need to be delivered to Mars. Even after rebuilding residential and laboratory modules station, there is a problem that a normal environment for life will exist in the modules.
Many probably remember why it was removed from orbit and scuttled. space station, — the astronauts were never able to get rid of the fungus that had infected the station. Mold literally overcame the station.
And even on Earth, having built a certain model of a closed base, problems began to arise in it. In early 1990, in the desert near Arizona, a project conceived by billionaire Edward Bass was implemented. The Americans created a huge complex in the desert,
The project lasted about two years, four men and four women kept in touch with outside world exclusively via computer. Very quickly the climate within the group deteriorated, the team split into two opposing factions. By the way, even after 20 years, the participants in the experiment avoid dating each other.
But not only the issues of cohabitation of a small group of people in confined space The Biosphere 2 project was disrupted. A huge complex, designed for people to live in it autonomously, could not exist without outside support. But inside he was closed the whole world, - trees, bushes, pigsties and chicken coops, goats and pastures for them. Ponds with fish, an entire ecosystem, isolated from the outside world.
However, the unexpected happened: microorganisms and insects began to multiply in huge quantities, and the process was impossible to regulate. And this began a few weeks after the start of the Biosphere-2 experiment. In connection with this, oxygen consumption and the destruction of agricultural crops have sharply increased.
As a result, the project participants began to suffocate from lack of oxygen, and the experiment lost its purity - scientists had to supply people with oxygen.
But this way you can solve the problem on Earth, but how can this issue be solved on Mars? – after all, there will be no one there to pour fresh oxygen into the modules. I would like to believe that current research scientists working in this direction have the technology to solve such problems.
And the first settlers of Mars will not face questions of survival due to the disruption of life support systems. And a more careful selection of the first group of colonists, according to psychological compatibility, will reduce the number of conflict situations.
The article talks about the possible colonization of Mars, its goals, dangers, technical aspects, and why it is a “one way ticket”.
Beginning of the space age
So terraforming projects without human participation are impossible, and it is the first settlers who can lay their foundation. Their meaning revolves around the atmosphere of Mars. It consists mainly of carbon dioxide, and is too thin for liquid water or normal clouds to exist on the surface. And there are proposals to populate it with bacteria that will produce even more carbon dioxide, resulting in gas envelope The planets will become denser, the temperature will rise and the polar caps will begin to melt, followed by warm rains.
Colonization of Mars. Selection of candidates
In 2011, the start of the Mars One project was announced. Its meaning was that a wide selection would be carried out of everyone who wanted to leave the Earth, and not just existing astronauts, to establish a settlement on Mars. A little later, indeed, any person could propose his candidacy via the Internet, and in the event successful completion test, he was enrolled in the ranks of applicants, received a specialty and waited for the opportunity.
This project is private, and everything is complicated engineering works its leadership planned to transfer it to contractors and receive their own benefit by turning the training of colonialists into a reality show.
By the way, there were a lot of people interested, and they weren’t even scared by the fact that this was a one-way flight to Mars. Since if something happens it will be impossible to pick up the settlers.
On this moment The selection has been completed, but several more are planned in the near future. In general, many people criticize Mars One, and not without reason. Since over the 5 years of its existence, very little has been done, and the dates of various events and plans are constantly being postponed. The criteria for selecting participants are also questionable.
Difficulties and dangers
The first difficulty is the direct flight to Mars itself. Colonization is complicated by the fact that even with the red planet as close as possible to us, with current technologies, the flight will take about 7 months. And all this time, the astronauts need to eat something, and there will be a lot of equipment on board. Another danger is that special means need to be developed to protect against it.
Another pressing issue is nutrition on Mars. There are no completely closed ones yet, and the colonists will have to rely only on themselves and hydroponic greenhouses. And plus for all this you need housing, at least some residential modules that also need to be delivered, lowered, assembled without damage... After all, if something happens, the astronauts will have to wait at least 7 months for a ship with a package.
Connection
Despite the fact that the speed of radio emission is comparable to at moments maximum removal from the earth the “ping” will be about 22 two earth minutes.
Gravity
Also, another factor in the danger of such a thing as the project of a flight to Mars is that it is low compared to that on Earth and it is unclear how this will affect children born in such conditions. And the settlers themselves too.
> Colonization of Mars
Creation of a colony on Mars: how humanity can form a settlement on the fourth planet of the solar system. Problems, new methods, exploration of Mars with photos.
Mars offers extremely uncomfortable living conditions. It has a weak atmosphere, no protection from cosmic rays and there is no air. But it also has a lot in common with our Earth: axis tilt, structure, composition, and even a small amount of water. This means not only that there was life on the planet before, but also that we have a chance to colonize Mars. It just takes a huge amount of resources and time! What does the Mars colonization plan look like?
There are many problems. Let's start with a thin layer Martian atmosphere, the composition of which is presented carbon dioxide(96%), argon (1.93%) and nitrogen (1.89%).
Oscillations atmospheric pressure cover 0.4-0.87 kPa, which equates to 1% at sea level. All this means that we are faced with a cold environment where temperatures can drop to -63°C.
On Mars there is no protection from dangerous cosmic radiation, so the dose is 0.63 mSv per day (1/5 of the amount we receive on Earth in a year). Therefore, you will have to heat the planet, create an atmospheric layer and change the composition.
Colonization of Mars in fiction
Mars appears for the first time in work of art in 1951. It was Arthur C. Clarke's novel The Sands of Mars, about settlers warming the planet to create life. One of the most popular books is “The Greening of Mars” by D. Lovelock and M. Albabi (1984), which describes the gradual transformation of the Martian environment into the terrestrial one.
In the 1992 story, Frederik Pohl used comets from the Oort Cloud to create the atmosphere and water reserves. In the 1990s. a trilogy from Kim Robinson appears: “Red Mars”, “Green Mars” and “Blue Mars”.
In 2011 there was japanese manga by Yu Sasuga and Kenichi Tachibana, depicting modern attempts to transform the Red Planet. And in 2012, a story appeared from Kim Robinson, which talks about the colonization of the entire solar system.
Considered methods for colonizing Mars
Over the past decades, there have been many proposals for ways to create colonies on Mars. In 1964, Dandridge Cole advocated activation greenhouse effect- delivery ammonia ice to the surface of the planet. It is a powerful greenhouse gas, so it should thicken the atmosphere and raise the temperature of the Red Planet.
Another option is albedo reduction, where the Martian surface would be covered with dark material to reduce the absorption of star rays. This idea was supported by Carl Sagan. In 1973, he even proposed two scenarios for this: delivering low-alloy material and planting dark plants in the polar regions to melt the ice caps.
In 1982, Christopher McKay wrote a paper about the concept of a self-regulating Martian biosphere. In 1984, D. Lovelock and M. Albabi proposed importing chlorofluorocarbons to create global warming.
In 1993, Robert Zubrin and Christopher McKay proposed placing orbital mirrors that would increase the heating. If placed near the poles, it would be possible to melt the ice reserves. They also voted for the use of asteroids, which heat up the atmosphere upon impact.
In 2001, a recommendation was made to use fluoride, which greenhouse gas 1000 times more effective than CO 2. Moreover, these materials can be mined on the Red Planet, which means you can do without earthly supplies. The bottom picture shows the concentration of methane on Mars.
They also proposed delivering methane and other hydrocarbons from an external system. There are many of them on Titan. There are ideas for creating closed bio-domes that will use oxygen-containing cyanobacteria and algae planted in Martian soil. The first tests were carried out in 2014 and scientists continue to develop the concept. Such structures are capable of creating certain oxygen reserves.
Potential benefits of colonizing Mars
Let's start with the fact that the colonization of Mars is a challenge to all humanity, which will again try to visit a completely alien world. But the reason for the creation of a human colony is not only scientific passion and human ego. The fact is that our planet Earth is not immortal. An accidental failure in the orbital path of an asteroid and we are finished. And in the future, there will also be an expansion of the Sun to the state of a red giant, which will swallow us or fry us. Let's not forget about the risk global warming, overpopulation and epidemics. Agree, it is wise to prepare your own way for retreat.
Moreover, Mars is a profitable option. It is a terrestrial planet located within the habitable zone. Rovers and probes have confirmed the presence of water, as well as its abundance in the past.
We managed to get acquainted with the Martian past. It turns out that 4 billion years ago there was water on the surface, and the atmospheric layer was much denser. But the planet lost it due to a serious impact or rapid fall temperature in the interior.
The reasons also include the need to expand sources of resource extraction. Mars has an abundance of ice and minerals. In addition, the colony will become an intermediate point between us and the asteroid belt.
Problems in colonizing Mars
Yes, it will be extremely difficult for us. To begin with, transformation requires the use of a huge amount of resources, both human and technological. There is also a risk that any intervention we make will not go as planned. Moreover, this will not take years or decades. It's not about easy creation protective shelters, and changing atmospheric composition, creating water cover, etc.
We don't know exactly how many terrestrial organisms will be needed and whether they will be able to adapt to new conditions to create their own ecology. The formation of an atmosphere with oxygen and ozone is possible due to photosynthetic organisms. But this will take millions of years!
But the time frame can be reduced if you withdraw special variety bacteria, which is already adapted to extreme conditions Red planet. But even then the count goes on for centuries and millennia.
There is also a lack of infrastructure. We are talking about devices capable of extracting the necessary materials on alien planets and satellites. This means that their flights must be carried out within a time frame acceptable to us. Modern engines are not up to these tasks.
It took New Horizons 11 years to arrive at Pluto. Ion engine Dawn delivered the vehicle to Vesta (in the asteroid belt) in 4 years. But this is not practical at all, because we are going to send them back and forth, like a delivery conveyor.
There is also another point. We don't know if there are living organisms on the planet, so our transformation will disrupt them natural environment. As a result, we will simply become perpetrators of genocide.
So in long term Mars exploration is a profitable idea. But it is not suitable for those who dream of completing it in a decade. Moreover, any mission will be risky, if not sacrificial. Will there be brave souls?
However, the survey found that hundreds of thousands of people are willing to make the one-way trip. And many agencies declare their desire to take part in colonization. As you can see, scientific excitement and the unknown still attract us and force us to go deeper into space and open new horizons.