The Race To Mars Has Begun! (NAPSA)—“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” On September 12, 1962, Kennedy gave his famous “man on the moon” speech and seven years later, mankind wasthere! Since then, the world has had its sights set on Mars. July 20th marked the 39th anniversary of the first photograph ever taken from the red planet’s surface. And with recent images back from Pluto from NASA’s New Horizons space probe, the race to get to Marsis heating up. Manyscientist believe that, in the next 12-15 years, Earthlings will see the first Mars landing. But in this race to space, government- funded astronauts and cosmonauts may not be thefirst ones to touch down. Rolling up their sleeves, private companies such as Virgin Galactic (the world’s first commercial spaceline) and SpaceX (with a Mars touchdown goal of 2025) will mostlikely be the first ones to reach Earth’s planetary neighbor. Just whowill be thefirst to set foot upon the red planet is still anyone’s guess, but many agree that colonization of Mars is in the future. This vision is also shared by mobile media entertainment powerhouse Outfit7 Limited, the creator of “Mars Pop,” thefirst of many mobile game launches based on its NeoMarsfranchise. “Mars Pop” takes place in the year 2124 in NeoMars, a modern, visionary city on Mars where human colonists have settled under huge domed habitats where living conditions are similar to Earth. Outside the dome, Marsis still a red rock with a dangerous atmosphere and violent dust storms. Yet further beneath the surface lies a treasure trove of ores and minerals that are essential resources for poweringall the advanced NeoMars technology, including NeoBots. Each and every inhabitant on Mars has a NeoBot, a personal robot intrinsically linked to its owner’s DNA. NeoBots are a marvel of technology, capable of nearly everything. They are communication devices, personal assistants, protectors and even friends. Out of this world! ’ 7 T) Whatwill life be like in the first colony on Mars? An entertaining new game mayhelp youfind out. Whimsical and fun, “Mars Pop” itself is a reimagined, futuristic take on the classic “Bubble Shooter” game, yet plays in real time. To pull this off, Outfit7 developed a proprietary technology with a delay of mere nanoseconds. This makes for a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat live competition to see who can explode bubbles the fastest. “Mars Pop”is easy for newbies, challenging for gamers and engaging for everyone in between. Whetherit’s a friend down the block, an old college roommate or an unknown player across the globe, “Mars Pop” matches you with other players based on skill level instantly, giving you identical starting screens and sequences of bubbles. You can even view your opponent’s screen as you battle for bubble shoot-outglory. As a player, you can also compete in global tournaments to up the ante on your bubble supremacy to earn rewards, and see your name and rank in leaderboardlights. There’s no sign-in required for “Mars Pop,” which is awesome, and you can connect via Facebook and invite friends for an out-ofthis-world journey—even if they’re off-line. But the best part is that “Mars Pop” is FREE, which is great on any planet. Back to today’s reality, future space travelers can take solace in the fact that the Mars One Programmeis amongoneoftheinitiatives planningthefirst human colony on Mars. The Netherlands-based nonprofit project reports that tens of thousandsof people have already signed up with a goal of settling on Marsby 2027 (at a cost of $6 billion for the first crew). So go ahead, put yourself on the waitinglist, but in the meantime, explore life on NeoMars byvisiting www.marspop.com.
