Expeditions

Expeditions are undertakings launched from the Planet View that require a Rocket loaded with various payloads and grant large rewards upon completion. There are two types of Expeditions: Planetary Anomalies and Special Projects. Expeditions may be canceled at any point after the Rocket has launched until it reaches its destination.

Special Projects

Special Projects are undertakings that require a large payload but grant permanent bonuses when the Expedition is completed.

Special Project	Additional inventory	Outcome	Time and requirements	Description	DLC
Capture Meteors	60 Fuel	Meteor Shower	2 Sols, 12 Hours	Trigger a meteor shower that will yield some valuable resources - Metals, Polymers and Anomalies. The meteor shower falls over a random location and may threaten the colony.	None
High-speed Comm Satellite	100 Fuel 100 Metals 100 Electronics	400 Research	4 Sols, 4 Hours	Increases sponsor research in exchange for constructing and launching an advanced communications satellite.	None
Launch SETI Satellite	50 Fuel 50 Metals 30 Electronics	2000M Funding	4 Sols, 4 Hours	Grants Funding. Multiple uses of this project will yield diminishing returns.	None
Capture Ice Asteroids	100 Fuel 15 Machine Parts	+5% Water	3 Sols, 18 Hours Interplanetary Projects technology	Crash ice asteroids on Mars' surface to improve the Water levels of the planet. This action may cause a Marsquake disaster.	Green Planet
Cloud Seeding	80 Fuel 20 Polymers	Rain	2 Sols Planetary Projects technology	Trigger rainfalls, that improve local soil quality and help plant life.	Green Planet
Import Greenhouse Gases	30 Fuel 600M Funding	+2% Atmosphere +1% Temperature	3 Sols Interplanetary Projects technology	Send a refurbished rocket to gather greenhouse gases from Earth's atmosphere and then dump them on Mars, improving the Atmosphere of the planet. This action may cause toxic rains that are harmful to soil quality and plant life.	Green Planet
Launch Magnetic Shield	80 Metals 20 Fuel 15 Electronics	Lower Atmosphere loss	2 Sols, 12 Hours Mega Satellites technology The Rocket will be lost	Launch an artificial shield to improve the magnetic field of the planet, counteracting solar wind and decreasing the loss of Atmosphere. Consumes the used rocket.	Green Planet
Launch Space Mirror	35 Fuel 100 Metals 15 Electronics	+10% Temperature	12 Hours Mega Satellites technology The Rocket will be lost	Launch a highly reflective surface to focus more sunlight on the surface of the planet, increasing the global Temperature and the power production of all Solar Panels.	Green Planet
Melt the Polar Caps	400 Fuel	+20% Water +10% Atmosphere	1 Sols, 16 Hours Nuclear Terraforming technology The Rocket will be lost	Nuke the Polar Caps, raising the Water levels and the Atmosphere of the planet. Stops all on-going Cold Waves but may cause a prolonged Dust Storm. Each successive nuking has less effect on the ocean levels and atmosphere.	Green Planet
Seed Vegetation	35 Fuel 100 Seeds	+5% Vegetation	4 Sols, 4 Hours Planetary Projects technology	Transport a large payload of Seeds to spread cyanophytes, green algae, lichens and more complex vegetation on the surface of the planet.	Green Planet

Story Bit Projects

These are special Planetary Anomalies unlocked only by specific special events (Story Bits) and by the choices we make in these events.

Special Project	Additional inventory	Outcome	Time and Requirements	Description	DLC
Contact Exploration Access	100 Fuel 30 Polymers	750M Funding	4 Sols, 4 Hours The Martian Trail story bit	Generates Funding by doing on-site research for third-party contractors.	None
Crash Ice Asteroid	5 Drones 20 Fuel	+3% Water	12 Hours Ice Asteroid story bit	Send a drone-controlled rocket to mount engines on the Asteroid and splash it on Mars. We should expect a Marsquake when this happens.	Green Planet
Crash Ice Asteroid	2 Engineers 5 Drones 10 Fuel	+2% Atmosphere +1% Water	12 Hours Ice Asteroid story bit	Send a team to mount engines on the Asteroid and detonate it in the atmosphere for a boost of evaporated gases and water.	Green Planet
Crash Ice Asteroid	6 Engineers 10 Fuel	+1% Atmosphere +2% Water	12 Hours Ice Asteroid story bit	Send a team to mount engines on the Asteroid, navigate and splash it on the other side of Mars.	Green Planet
Clean Junk in Space	6 Engineers 4 drones	20 Metals 5 Rare Metals -5 Fuel use	12 Hours Junk in Space story bit	Send an expedition to clean Mars space from dangerous junk.	Green Planet
Spread Junk in Space	6 Engineers 20 Metals	+2% Temperature	12 Hours Junk in Space story bit	Send an expedition to spread some more metals in space and improve the greenhouse effect on the planet.	Green Planet
Quaid Expedition	5 Colonists	Total Recall story bit	12 Hours Total Recall story bit	Rendezvous with Douglas Quaid to help him follow his sixth sense.
Spread Cold-Resistant Bacteria	4 Drones 1 RC Commander	+2% Vegetation	12 Hours Cold-Resistant Bacteria story bit	Send a rocket to spread Cold-Resistant Bacteria on the surface of Mars.	Green Planet
Rig Baby Volcano	6 Geologists 30 Fuel	+2% Atmosphere +1% Water	12 Hours Baby Volcano story bit	Send a Geologist team to trigger the tectonic activity into an eruption. We expect there is a high probability of a Marsquake.	Green Planet
Spread Tardigrades	6 Scientists 40 Food	+3% Vegetation	12 Hours Tardigrades story bit	Send a rocket to distribute Tardigrades over Mars water sources.	Green Planet
Throw Tardigrades	5 Scientists 20 Metals	+3% Vegetation	12 Hours Tardigrades story bit	Send a rocket to shoot Tardigrades canisters from space.	Green Planet
Remote Martian Laboratory	75 Electronics 150 Polymers 100 Machine Parts	1 Breakthrough	12 Hours Twin Peeks story bit	Reveals a new Breakthrough.	None
Unleash Martian Yellowstone	10 Drones 10 Machine Parts	+2% Water	12 Hours Martian Yellowstone story bit	Send an expedition to release the salty underground waters.	Green Planet
Unleash Martian Yellowstone	6 Engineers 6 Drones 15 Machine Parts	+3% Water	12 Hours Martian Yellowstone story bit	Send an expedition to release the salty underground waters.	Green Planet
X Marks the Spot	3 Colonists 1 RC Transport	Treasure Hunt story bit	12 Hours Treasure Hunt story bit	A location which is supposed to hide a precious treasure.

Planetary Anomalies

Planetary Anomalies are quests on Mars that require a minor payload. The first Planetary Anomalies will appear on Sol 10 or 11, and subsequent anomalies will appear after every 62-63 Sols. Planetary Anomalies usually come in sets of 3 to 6.

All Expeditions to Planetary Anomalies take 12 hours to complete. Planetary Anomalies have random names but the description will give an indication of what rewards to expect.

In Space Race Rival Colonies will occasionally start preparing an Expedition to a Planetary Anomaly, adding a timer during which an Expedition can be sent to investigate the Planetary Anomaly first.

Description	Inventory	Reward
This area registered off-the-charts readings for a while now. This prompts an expedition.	Random	Random
One-off strange readings usually don't merit much attention. This one is too weird to be a sensor glitch.	Random	Random
Multiple strange signals, detected over time, can all be traced to this area. It is now nicknamed "The Zone".	Random	Random
Something interesting seems to be going on here. On Mars many interesting things can get you killed.	Random	Random
A mysterious signal caught from this area is speculated to come from the remnants of a lost and secretive science mission.	Engineers	Breakthrough
This place is just weird. There is obviously something very wrong about our understanding of the planet and this particular area doesn’t give a damn.	Geologists	Breakthrough
Highly abnormal weather patterns in this area prove there is still a lot we don’t know about Mars. Investigating the site could bring on a breakthrough.	Scientists	Breakthrough
Observing the anomalous area brings the promise of either groundbreaking research, or the serious need to fix our observation instruments.	Scientists	Breakthrough
We have visuals of a large crater. The meteorite that formed it was composed of metallic iron-nickel material. Someone suggested that we use some of it to forge a sword and name it.	Colonists	Metals
Satellites have located an iron-rich region where pieces of hematite and other useful minerals can just be picked from the ground! One only needs robot patience to do that.	Drones	Metals
Readings suggest that this small black bump could actually be an obsidian-rich mountain.	Drones	Polymers
A recent dust storm revealed the crash site of what is believed to be a polymer shipment gone missing a while back.	Drones	Polymers
A spectrographic sweep of the location caught telltale signs of fluorine - a crystal used in the manufacturing of durable polymers.	RC Explorer	Polymers
Planetary scanning discovered an inactive volcano that may provide valuable insight about the plate tectonics on Mars. Several millions of years ago this was the perfect place to throw a ring into.	Colonists	2000-4000 Research Points
Glimmering salts in the area baffle our scientists. Sending a rocket filled with some baffled scientists could prove beneficial.	Geologists	2000-4000 Research Points
A huge water lake residing beneath a relatively thin sheeting of ice is what every scientist – geologists being an exception – will call a gold mine.	Scientists	2000-4000 Research Points
Rapidly shifting sands in the area present conditions fit for multipurpose research experiments.	RC Explorer	2000-4000 Research Points
Sinkholes appear here in a rate seen nowhere else on Mars. Scientific potential warrants sending a vehicle.	RC Explorer	2000-4000 Research Points
Spectrographic analyses revealed a ground cavity which seems to contain a huge deposit of precious metals. We can send a RC Rover to enter it and gather the treasure. Mission Control insisted that we name the rover "Siegfried"	RC Explorer	Rare Metals
Geological murmurs heard by our most sensitive equipment pinpoint an area of immense scientific interest.	Geologists	Technology unlock
This location is believed to be the site of a secretive military experiment from decades ago. Rummaging through the sands here could yield some technological insights.	Scientists	Technology unlock
An unidentified robotic rover roams the sands in this area. Reaching it could secure us precious knowledge.	RC Explorer	Technology unlock
Previous observations tell of a rainbow having being sighted at this spot – most probably from crystalizing water vapors. Scientists are quite vocal of the interest the area represents.	RC Explorer	Technology unlock

Game concepts