fandomhigh | Getting to Know Your Own Backyard

"Okay, everybody," Hera said, "today we hit the dividing line - Earth is the next planet from your sun, and we pretty much know what it is," at least on an astronomical level, "so now we head outward. The next one is called Mars."

"Speaking in comparison to Earth, it and Mars presumably have a few similarities," Kanan mused. He'd picked up a book this week, because he was fancy. It was something to fill in time with while they traveled to Mars, because it was the farthest trip yet, thanks to the respective orbits of the planets they were visiting. "Earth and Mars both have polar ice caps, observable weather patterns, and seasonal changes."

He lowered his book and smirked a little at the class.

"So, another weird planet."

Hera rolled her eyes. Okay, Earth was strange, but weather was not weird. "Terrestrial, thin atmosphere, low gravity, according to Earth probes. Two moons." She glanced at Kanan. "We might be able to land on this one."

"Depending on where we land," Kanan agreed. "Though we'll be pulling out the envirosuits again, because we enjoy breathing. That'll make up for the low temperatures even if we don't manage to park ourselves in the middle of a summer day."

Hera nodded. "So, same as on Mercury - everybody be safe, no bouncing off, and be careful about your suit."

"And hey," Kanan said, "maybe the scenery will be different here."

That was about as good as they could hope for on any non-Earth planet in this system that was safe to land on, wasn't it?

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Like a martian!

Enjoy the flight as your instructors talk all about Mars!

It's red. No, really. It's all rusty. Gravity's about 1/3rd of Earth's, so you'll be bouncy. It's a bit until sunset, but dusk is long, so the sky is pinkish-red up high, and blue at the horizon.

"Huh," Hera noted as they got close enough for scans. "Looks like there's a few droids down there."

Kanan blinked, and then leaned over to look at the readings.

"Huh," he agreed. "At least two active ones. Should we check one of those out, or leave the strange droids be?"

Hera swung a little closer and did some more scans. "I'm not detecting any weaponry."

"Even better," Kanan decided. "Maybe we'll find a protocol droid or something down there. Maybe he'll mix us some drinks while we're visiting."

Or maybe it was Curiosity, minding its own business, doing soil testing and taking pictures of the sky from time to time. But it wasn't like Kanan figured anybody was going to take his suggestion seriously, anyway.

"No drinking from strange droids," Hera said firmly. "And Chopper, you're staying on the ship." The last thing they needed was him pulling parts off other droids.

Enjoy Mars, have fun, take selfies with Curiosity if you want. Really confuse NASA!