References
Working reference material for the Entangled at a Distance universe: traffic models, maps, and infrastructure. Open a section to explore it; models stay paused until opened.
Solar Traffic Model, the Sol corridor from cycler era to story present
Real Kepler orbits and era-correct transfers: chemical-era launch windows are minimum-energy Lambert solutions from a porkchop scan, exactly how real launch dates are chosen (Earth-Mars every 2.1 years, 8-9 month transits), then 0.02 g flip-and-burn torch tracks once MMS commissions, which is also what makes rendezvous with the retrograde hub possible at all. The model pauses automatically at story present (SFUT 500); press Play to continue beyond it. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan.
Full disclosure: this simulator is AI-built to the creator's specifications, a rare and deliberate exception to this project's no-AI-content rule. See the exceptions list in the AI disclaimer.
Yearly statistics
Dispatch rules: ships loop Earth to Mars and back; outbound and return windows are scheduled independently per direction (a chemical-era ship waits about 1.2 years at Mars for return phase, so the pre-MMS steady state is two ships); every window carries all waiting ships; a new ship is commissioned at Earth only when an Earth window fires with no ship parked there; the direct corridor never retires. The cargo cycler rides a permanent Earth-Mars cycling orbit; unmanned crates boost straight up to meet it at each planetary pass and drop straight down at the destination, no crewed ship needed: serviced, then 30 years of automated operation, then retired. Construction dates flagged in the log are working estimates while the codex chronology is reconciled.
Tharsis Industrial Corridor, story sites on real Mars topography
NASA MOLA colorized topography (public domain, Mercator). First the whole planet for scale, then the corridor in detail. Bright markers are story infrastructure; † marks placements fixed by canon description rather than surveyed coordinates.
Global context, 70N to 70S: the corridor (outlined) spans roughly a quarter of the western hemisphere. The deep basin on the far side is Hellas Planitia, the largest visible impact structure on Mars.
Two rail lines cross at the Pavonis Mons junction (white ring); the canyon line stays inside the deep trench floors: Oudemans into the Ius trench, east through Ius Hub to the Melas basin, where the Candor leg forks north into Candor Chasma and the main line continues down the Coprates neck to Coprates Hub. Measured: Noctis station to Oudemans ~590 km; Oudemans to Coprates Hub ~1,550 km; Candor leg from the fork ~160 km. Hub placements owner-approved; coordinates still nudgeable. Routing between anchors is drawn to plausible grade contours, not surveyed. Base map: NASA / JPL / GSFC Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, public domain.