Martian Argosy by TomPeters
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Description
This is the first piece in a occasional series (I hope) that I'm calling "How the Solar System was Won" (which was the internal title Arthur C. Clarke used for the first half of an early version of 2001: A Space Odyssey)
This first piece, "Martian Argosy" is a melding of current and classic ideas of how to get the first Mars Expeditions done. It incorporates a version of the inflatable TransHab that has been test flown in the last year for the main crew module of a nuclear thermal spacecraft, and a pretty standard ballistic lander. This is a bit of an "old school" or brute force approach, but its appealing from the point of view of robustness of the vehicles, and maneuverability. Mounting a fleet of three craft cruising together allows the ability to rescue the crew of one of the vehicles in an emergency in transit. Besides, it just looks cool!
Rendered in Lightwave, with the Mars terrain generated from Mars Orbiting Laser Altimetry data converted to grayscale by a LightWave plugin, then used as a displacement Map. I then painted the color map, using Mars maps and photography as reference.
Thanks to everyone for the comments and suggestions during the work in progress period of this piece, it really kept me on my toes, and the enthusiasm up. Next up in the series is a Comet rendezvous.
-Tom
Comments (13)
StarGazer9
Fantastic!
geirla
Very nice! Great realism on the Argosy ships. And the Martian terrain. can't wait to see the next one.
DaiKepler
Breath-taking! I particularly enjoy the maneuvering thrusters on the docking module. Brilliant work!
dbrv6
Great render and development of the models and textures.
tainted_heart
Absolutely fabulous work!
arcas
Y'know, I kinda thought you were done with the last version, but your added refinements definitely give it a total polish. The Mars surface here is vastly superior. And the refinements in the details... including modifying the position of the AE35 :) ... are just great. This is one of the nicest works you've done all year, IMHO. Have you considered offering prints? I miss the dreams of the 50-70's, when it seemed like hoping a tourist craft to Mars was only a few decades away. Thanks to the effects of deregulation and greed I'd say the dream of Mars is dead. At least for another decade. We'll have to scratch our itch by viewing planetarium simulations... that is if planetariums don't get cut as unnecessary earmarks... Thanks for revisiting the dream, Tom. We may never get there in our lifetimes, but we can share a vision of what it would have been like. sigh I miss Arthur.
zhaanman
Amazing detail in the design a very cool craft and story behind it!
DAVER2112
Excellent work!!! 5++++
imaga
Estoy de acuerdo con arcas, el refinamiento y los detalles de esta imágen, la hacen mejor que la anterior que mostraste, es un gran trabajo, muy bien hecho!
Pagrin
Excellent work. I'm looking forward to the next one. Pagrin :-)
Mat_3D
great image I love the planet surface.
chimera46
I love the idea and great execution here, I love how makes completely takes up the frame as well.
Iguana9
Really amazing detailing on the ship and the surface of Mars is absolutely priceless. That had to take an awful lot of work. I thought there were no clouds on mars, but it looks really wonderful and complements the image, so what the hell.. Great job.