A 23rd century tourist guide to the solar system (pictures) - CNET

For adventurers in the 23rd century, only the biggest, boldest and most spectacular destinations will do.

For eons, humans were bound to a single planet. But the perfection of an electromagnetic drive, or EM drive, in the 2100s will usher in a new era of interplanetary travel. Humans will finally be able to go boldly where no biological-based tourists have gone before. To prepare future generations for this awesome new age, we proudly present this speculative first draft of our "23rd Century Travel Guide to the Solar System for Extreme and Casual Human Tourists."

Let's start with literally the biggest destination next door. Previous generations scrambled to the increasingly crowded summits of peaks like Everest and Denali. In the 2200s, new Martian bases developed by SpaceXtreme will allow interplanetary mountaineers to visit the geological top of the solar system by scaling the 25 km (16 miles, or almost 85,000 feet) tall volcano, Olympus Mons. The largest volcano around isn't just high, it also takes up an area on the Red Planet roughly the same size as Arizona, which coincidentally happens to be one of the places on Earth that most resembles Mars.

Be sure to bring plenty of extra oxygen on this Martian hike, and watch out for getting stuck in any sunny-side slope lineae quicksand!

- - , .