Event · discovery
Martian life confirmed
Returned samples show an independent origin.
Read more in Life beyond Earth
2190s · Mars samples, returned at last from the Settlement's side of Mars once the Contraction ended, confirm ancient Martian microbes, chemically distinct from Earth's — a separate origin. Life starts easily
Mars (2070s onward). American companies found the first private towns in Arcadia Planitia, long a leading candidate for US crewed landings. In the Contraction their supply lines from a fracturing US fail, and the Laurentian Compact takes them over, as it took in America's northern states. The Mandate's state settlements grow out of Utopia Planitia, where China's Zhurong rover landed in 2021. Mars ends up with a frontier across its northern plains. The samples that proved Martian life arose separately (2190s) were returned from the Settlement side.