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          • It Was His Time: Brad Gobright Interview May 2019
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          • Sébastien Berthe Free Climbs the Nose From the Ground Up
          • Shit Happens – Or, Why You Need a Walkie Talkie
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          • GREECE - Meteora
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          • UTAH - Maple Canyon: This One Makes You Taller
        • Honoring Diversity >
          • ARTIST: Shawn Lee
          • A Shift on Moonlight Buttress
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          • Is Diversity in America Diverse?
          • MOVIE: People of Climbing:
          • Profile - Favia Dubyk
          • The Lineage
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          • Rock Type 1
          • The Tape Job
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      • CoVID and Climbing >
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      • Facebook Feature >
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      • Grades, Styles, & Types >
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        • A Climb Worth Fighting For
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        • 2020 U.S. Rock Climbing Festivals
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          • Climbing Area Check List Part 1: Alabama to California
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  • Photographers & Artists
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Prologue
The 21st Century had experienced a rapid rise in both humanities access to education and health outcomes. This was basic stuff, but these gains had huge repercussions. Humans lived longer and wanted more but the Earth had given beyond its means. Humankind had been forced into a reckoning, a fight or flight for global health and a sustainable future.  Amid these tensions, civilisation looked to the stars. Out there were the resources required to replenish the planet and to acquire the energy needed to see that through.  Mars, being the closest Earth-like planet, became the New Frontier of dream catchers who were willing to risk it all in the search of life sustaining resources.
 
With renewed commitment from global government’s and industry, space agencies from every continent on Earth worked feverishly to travel to Mars, and a steady stream of satellites seeking data, rovers pursuing evidence and expeditions seeking a stake in this new world were deployed.  The stakes were high, even though no country gave away their political or economic ambitions of exploring and exploiting Mars; it was hard not to miss the space race of the 21st Century. 
 
Amongst this noise a whimper was heard in 2006 from a rocky outcrop in Antarctica. A small team of NASA Meteorologists discovered sample ALH84001, a 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite, a piece of Martian rock reasoned to have crystallised from a Martian volcanic eruption. It was an eruption so powerful, that it had spewed igneous rock to Earth. The sample was widely believed to hold micro-organisms, evidence of life indigenous to the red planet. The veracity of the claim was scrutinised by every scientist who cared about astronomy, biology, chemistry, and astrophysics – of which there were many. Was this the real deal? Did life exist on Mars? The discovery on that Antarctic shelf began an enduring scientific debate that turned wonder into scepticism and took ALH84001 off its pedestal. Eventually, the rock sample was placed in a glass box in an undisclosed NASA laboratory in the United States. Out of sight, out of mind – perhaps.
 
But It is here that our story really begins.
 
What was not shared by that NASA Meteorology Team, and by the United States Government, was that there was another sample, found in the same rock alcove, less than thirty feet from ALH84001. This meteor did not evidence fossilised signs of life, but it did contain a crystal. The crystal was unique, with no properties like any geological specimen or mineral found on Earth. However, it did have a remarkable property – it produced abundant energy without any external environmental additive or geothermal activity. It was the Holy Grail of energy generation as it could be tapped to produce energy and staggering amounts of it for a resource hungry world.
 
This rock specimen had a similar composition to the other Mars specimen, so it was deduced that it too came from the Red Planet. The alien geological sample was named, ALH84001 (b). The b specimen was concealed from the wider scientific community and the media.  It was quietly brought back, with its more famous sister rock, to the United States for further study. The b sample was much more inspiring and beautiful than its ALH84001 sibling but way too valuable for a resource hungry world to have knowledge of – yet. Nations had fought wars for less. Its secret was kept in-house at NASA and together, with assistance from mutual Government Agencies, further analysis of the b specimen was undertaken.  Whilst this was a eureka moment in the great energy rush of the 21st Century, science would have to sit on it until technology and NASA could catch up. Firstly, the place from which ALH84001 (b) came from on Mars needed to be located before an expedition could be launched.
 
Years passed, other nations and private space agencies launched expeditions to Mars but still NASA held their ace up their sleeve, their ALH84001 (b) card, while they searched and surveyed Mars, waiting for their moment.
 
On a June evening in 2028, at 0254 hours Pacific Standard Time, a tired scientist named Dasha, of the USGS (United States Geological Survey) was eating corn chips in the limelight of her three laptops at the Space Science Center, Menlo Park in California.  She had sat there for several years often alone, just as her predecessor had done, secretly tasked to find the origins of ALH84001(b). Night after night, year after year, Dasha set prescribed coordinates to sectors of the red planet with similar geological compositions to the sample, there were thousands of these.  Night after night Dasha manipulated her computer mouse which pivoted the camera and sensors on the MGS (Mars Global Surveyor), a satellite platform that was able to take up to 300 high resolution pictures a day, searching for the elusive lodestone.  The MGS had been orbiting Mars, sending back geological data since 1999 with Dasha ghosting the transmissions in more recent years. 
 
Her computer began to ping. It had never pinged.
 
Dasha recognised the ping from the satellite and sat upright fumbling for her keypad and mouse.  She began to sequence out a reference.  Her computer screens lit up her face whilst the data she was looking at lit up her mind.  Seeking confirmation, she directed the MGS to take a secondary geological scan of that ping reference point and waited. 
 
It takes time for information to transmit to a satellite in Mars’s orbit and more time for that data to return to Earth. She continued waiting, anxiously pacing up and down the room, nervously she patted her leg and chewed on her pen. Dasha’s heart rate was pumping, really pumping. 
 
"C’mon, C’mon...." 
 
The computer lit up; a signal was coming through. 
 
Ping. Confirmation!
 
It was the sweetest sound for Dasha after so many years of unsuccessful searching.
 
Dasha's mind was spinning as she fumbled about trying to find her phone. She eventually found it under some nondescript papers on the edge of her desk. Dasha contacted her superior relaying the coordinates that she had received from the MGS.  By 0600 NASA was in overdrive focusing its attention on the Martian sector labelled, Echo Charlie 0-2-8-1-7-3.1. Computer imagery was able to focus down on that ping, a location comprising, three square feet of the Martian surface. In NASA those whose focus was on Mars, their excitement was palpable, as it was confirmed that the geological composition of Dasha’s find was the same as the ALH84001(b) sample found on that Antarctic Ice shelf. 
 
Like ancient times when Yahweh had told Moses to climb the mountain to find a rock and liberate his people this rock was calling for some gifted humans to go to Mars to do likewise. It turned out that the long-awaited ping was also located on a mountain – a large one. Although NASA was commissioned to follow in the footsteps of Moses to go and save humanity – there was a slight issue. This was not your average Moses climb – it had a very steep rock face which would require more than your average mountain specialists to ascend and to retrieve a sample of that crystal. The stakes could not have been higher if humanity were to be saved from an apocalyptic energy crisis and potential self-destruction.   
 
This is the story of the chosen few tasked to leave earth to save it. An Alpha Team of highly skilled adventurers – the elite of the elite. This team was to go to the source of ALH84001 (b) in the only way possible to secure site evidence of this remarkable geological phenomenon; to go rock climbing on Mars. 
 
This is their story.
Picture
Picture
Dave Barnes is the Assistant Editor for Common Climber and he is self-publishing his first novel "The Red Curtain: A Climbing Adventure on Mars." Dave is hosting a My Cause campaign to raise funds to print the novel. 

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  • Common Climber
  • Writing
    • All Writings (List)
    • Editions >
      • Themed Editions >
        • Adaptive Climbing Edition >
          • Adaptive Climbing Photo Feature: Paradox Sports
          • Advocating for Deaf Climbers: Sonya Wilson
          • Amputations: Leg Prosthesis for Climbing
          • Blind Ambition Builds a World Class Climber: The Story of Jesse Dufton
          • Climbing with Type 1 Diabetes
          • First Paralyzed Ascents: Rand Abbott
          • Mixed Climbing: My Answer to KT Syndrome
          • Paraclimbing Competitions: Althlete Interviews
          • Rock!
          • The Unreasonable Man
        • Belaytionships Edition >
          • Featured Photographer: Charlie OlGrady-Kessner
          • Belaytionships: Drew-and-Sarah
          • Belaytionships: Jeantique and Natalie
          • Belaytionships: Maggie and Charlie Odette
          • I Am My Father's Son: Layton Bridwell
          • Book Review: Uncoiling the Ropes
          • Zac the Interloper
        • Big Wall Edition >
          • Book Review: Paul Preuss: Lord of the Abyss
          • Featured Photographer: Matt Spohn
          • Grading Commitment
          • Hanging with the Monkeys, and Getting the Monkey Off My Back
          • It Was His Time: Brad Gobright Interview May 2019
          • John Middendorf : A Big Man for a Big Stone
          • Sébastien Berthe Free Climbs the Nose From the Ground Up
          • Shit Happens – Or, Why You Need a Walkie Talkie
        • Developers and Guidebook Authors >
          • Developer - Mitch Lehman
          • Andrew Penny - A Blue Mountaineer
          • Kevin Powell
          • Rock Star Groupie
          • Tony Calderone
        • Exploring Our World >
          • AUSTRALIA - Photographer - Diego Perez
          • AUSTRALIA - Profile - Julie Anderson
          • Book Review - Climbing Rock
          • CHINA - From Yangshuo, to Getu, to Liming
          • FRANCE - Verdon in Winter
          • GREECE - Meteora
          • ITALY - Dolomites
          • MEXICO - La Huasteca
          • SPAIN - Artist - Karmelo Onate
          • UTAH - Maple Canyon: This One Makes You Taller
        • Honoring Diversity >
          • ARTIST: Shawn Lee
          • A Shift on Moonlight Buttress
          • Claiming a Space on the Mountain
          • Colorblind
          • Feature Photographer: Bryan Sillorequez
          • Is Diversity in America Diverse?
          • MOVIE: People of Climbing:
          • Profile - Favia Dubyk
          • The Lineage
        • Joshua Tree >
          • Bouldering: JTree Made Me Do It
          • Improv at JTree: Bad Bolts
          • JTree: Bolting Pressure Cooker
          • Joshua Tree: Heinous Approaches
        • Overcoming Boundaries >
          • Photographer - Brook Anderson
          • Profile - Louise Shepherd
          • Profile - Megan Banker
          • Profile - Shawn Axelrod
          • Rock Type 1
          • The Tape Job
        • Women's Edition >
          • Editorial - Women's Edition
          • Climbing is My Art
          • Mt. Logan Solo
          • Photographer - Michelle Ranee Johnson
          • Profile - Caitlin Schokker
      • Non-Themed Editions >
        • April 2020
        • May 2020
        • June 2020
        • August 2020 >
          • Online Auction
          • Editorial August 2020
        • September 2020
        • October 2020
        • November 2020
        • December 2020 >
          • Anthology 2020 Sponsors
        • January 2021
        • March 2021
    • Topics >
      • Adaptive Climbing >
        • Adaptive Climbing Edition
        • El Capitan: Enock Glidden
        • Quinn Brett Interview
        • My Journey to Adaptive Rock Climbing
        • Planning for Mt. Rainier: Adaptive Climbing
        • Resources - Adaptive Climbing
      • Alpine & Ice >
        • California Still Has Untouched Climbing Wilderness
        • Ice Solo
        • Mt. Ogden Spanking
        • Mt. Whitney Whipping
        • My Common Alpine Epic
      • CC Profile >
        • Profile - Shawn Axelrod
        • Profile - Megan Banker
        • Profile: Wendy Bruere - More Than It Hurts
        • Profile - Favia Dubyk
        • Profile - Debbie Fowler
        • Profile - Lindsey Hamm
        • Profile - Sabine Pratt Hunziker
        • PROFILE - Marisa Michael - Nutrition for Climbers
        • Profile - Caitlin Schokker
        • Profile - Louise Shepherd
      • CoVID and Climbing >
        • COVID Climbing Memes
        • CoVID-19 Remakes Our Lives
        • Dear Memory
        • From Couch to Lifting Couches
        • How to Climb and Avoid the Corona Virus
        • Train the Mind: Mental Toughness Tips for Quaratraining
        • The 5.10 Commandments
        • Trying to Send this Route
      • Equipment (writings) >
        • Aliens!
        • A Rack Retrospective
        • Cam Ranges (+ Big Bros)
        • Carabiner Strength Ratings
        • Climbing Shoes Fit
        • Guide Book Follies
        • Rope Buying 101
        • Shit Happens – Or, Why You Need a Walkie Talkie
        • The One Item to Stockpile
        • Which Way Should I Carry My Trad Rack?
        • Why GriGris Suck
        • 8 Reasons I Carry a Full Rack on Every Trad Climb
      • Facebook Feature >
        • FF: Big Walls
        • FF: Butt Shots
        • FF: Exploring Our World
        • FF: Overcoming Boundaries
        • FF: Trees & Climbing
        • FF: Welcome New Climbers
      • Grades, Styles, & Types >
        • Bouldering-Falling
        • Bouldering Grade Advancements
        • Grading Climbs at the Gym
        • It's a F-ing Chimney
        • Onsight vs Flash vs Etc...
        • Top 10: Increase the Climbing Grade When...
        • Trad Climbing is for Chicken Sh*#s
        • WTF 5.7?
        • 18 Climber Types: Which Are You?
      • Kids >
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        • The Guidebook
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        • J - Saxon Johns
        • M - Tim Macartney-Snape: ​A Legend from Sea to Summit
        • M - John Middendorf
      • Mental-Physical >
        • Climbing Training Series >
          • Improving Hip Mobility
          • Rock Climber Mobility
          • Train the Mind: Mental Toughness Tips for Quaratraining
        • A Climb Worth Fighting For
        • Achilles
        • Everyone Around Me Is Better Than I Am
        • Fear, Pride, and Exploration
        • How Auto-Immune Disease Affected My Climbing
        • Mastering Joy on Easy Street
        • Mind, Body, and Soul
        • My Demon Has a Name
        • New Year's Resolutions
        • Of Cartoons and Quickdraws
        • Push and Pull
        • Sorcerer and the Kidney Stone
        • Take Risks - You'll Remember Them Later
        • The Art of Climbing Without Rock
        • The Devil's Game
        • The Taste of Climbing
        • 12-Weeks to Onsighting a 5.8
      • Other/Misc >
        • Assault on Schurman Rock
        • Book Club
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        • Climbing Resolutions
        • Demented Dirtbag
        • Don't Take Granite for Granite
        • Dorothy, We Aren't on Havana Anymore
        • Guatemalan Worry Dolls Go Climbing
        • No Health Insurance Changed How I Climb
        • Snakes and Ladders
        • Starting Over
        • The Adventure of A Lifetime - So Far
        • The Bane of Northwest Climbing
        • The Pink Tricam
        • Things of Stone and Wood
        • Zac the Interloper
      • Places & Climbs >
        • Climbs >
          • Consolation Prize
          • Flakes and Shakes: Flake Crack Revisited
          • From Yorkshire to Eternity
          • Tiptoeing Through Some Bungles
          • Tombstone Territory
          • Yosemite - What We Came For
        • Location Reviews
        • My Home Crag >
          • Climbing in the Upper Cumberland Valley, Kentucky
          • Drytooling in the Rain - Wayne's World, WA
          • My Home Crag: Nowra, NSW, Australia
        • Travel Stories >
          • Blue Mountains - Bliss: Climbing in the Blueys
          • Buenos Aires, Argentina Crag
          • Colorado - Calling Pat Ament
          • Coolum Cave - Sendfest 8
          • Ecuador - A Nation of Four Worlds
          • El Potrero Chico - Riding the Dirty Dog
          • Yosemite: Growing Up
          • Lover's Leap - Zone of Craptitude
          • Rio de Janeiro - Classic Climbs Sampler
          • Taghia, Morocco - Hardly Failing
          • Tasmania - Legend of the ‘Unclimbable Cliff’
          • Thailand - Lost and Found: A Mini-Epic in Paradise
          • Vedauwoo, WY
          • Yosemite - What We Came For
          • 20 World Destinations for Adventurous Climbing
        • 2020 U.S. Rock Climbing Festivals
      • Poetry/Prose >
        • Anti-Social Climbers
        • Sojourn at Dyuritte
        • Finding Poetry
        • Ice is Nice
        • The Space Between
      • Safety and Skills >
        • Bolting and Ground-Fall Potential
        • Euro-Death Knot is NOT
        • Multi-Pitch Tips: Two ATCs
        • Sketchy Anchor Bolts
        • Sliding-X Anchor
        • Three Ways to Use a Stick Clip
        • Top 10: Climbing Best Practices
      • Science Fiction >
        • Red Curtain: Prologue
      • Social, Social Media, & Social Issues >
        • Chossy Trio Renegades
        • Climbing into the Fold
        • Diversity in Climbing is Not a Bandwagon
        • Fuck "Gumbies" and "Noobs"
        • Montana, My Home: Claire Larson
        • My Husband Climbs Stronger than Me
        • Navajo Rising
        • Social Network Rescue
  • Marketplace
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  • Reviews
    • Books >
      • Advanced Rock Climbing Book Review
      • Adventures at the Edge of the World
      • Climbing Rock: Vertical Explorations Across North America
      • Hangdog Days Book Review
      • HOOKING UP: The Ultimate Big Wall and Aid Climbing Manual
      • Paul Preuss: Lord of the Abyss
      • The Sharp End of Life: A Mother's Story - Book Review
    • Equipment/Gear Reviews >
      • Belay Device Review >
        • Edelrid Mega Jul
      • Harnesses >
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        • Misty Mountain Cadillac
      • Packs and Bags >
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        • Trango Crag Pack
      • Personal Anchor Systems >
        • Camp-Daisy-Twist
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      • Other >
        • Dr. Piton's Review of the D4 Delta2P Portaledge
    • Location Reviews >
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        • Queensland, Australia >
          • Kangaroo Point Photos and Beta
          • Kangaroo Point Review
        • New South Wales Australia >
          • Blue Mountains >
            • Blue Mountains Photos and Beta
            • Blue Mountains Review
          • Nowra >
            • Nowra Review >
              • Nowra Photos and Beta
      • Mexico >
        • Potrero Chico Photos and Beta
        • Potrero Chico Review
      • United States >
        • Climbing Area Check List - U.S. >
          • Climbing Area Check List Part 1: Alabama to California
          • Climbing Area Checklist Part 2: Colorado to Michigan
          • Climbing Area Checklist Part 3: Minnesota to New Mexico
          • Climbing Area Checklist Part 4: New York to Wyoming
        • Arizona >
          • Queen Creek Canyon
        • California >
          • Joshua Tree >
            • Joshua Tree Tips
          • Mount Whitney >
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        • Idaho >
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            • City of Rocks Photos and Beta
            • City of Rocks Review
        • Oregon >
          • Smith Rock >
            • Smith Rock - Photos and Beta
            • Smith Rock Review
          • Spring Mountain >
            • Spring Mountain Review
            • Spring Mountain - Photos and Beta
          • Trout Creek >
            • Trout Creek Photos and Beta
            • Trout Creek Review
        • Nevada >
          • Gun Club
          • Keyhole Canyon
          • Mt. Charleston, Nevada
          • Red Rock Canyon >
            • Red Rock Canyon Review - Yeahs and Neahs
            • Red Rocks Photos and Beta
        • New Hampshire >
          • North Conway, NH
          • Rumney, NH
        • New York >
          • Gunks Review
        • Utah >
          • Echo Canyon
          • Ferguson Canyon >
            • Ferguson Canyon Photos and Beta
            • Ferguson Canyon Review
          • Ibex >
            • Ibex Photos and Beta
            • Ibex Review
          • Maple Canyon >
            • Maple Canyon, Utah Photos and Beta
            • Maple Canyon Review
          • Moab >
            • Moab - Main - Photos and Beta
            • Moab -Main - Review
          • St. George >
            • St. George - Prophesy Wall- Photos and Beta
            • St. George - Prophesy Wall - Review
        • West Virginia >
          • Seneca Rocks
        • Wyoming >
          • Ten Sleep
  • Photographers & Artists
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