Maverick, the first dog on Mars

A Progress Story

This article is about the first dog on Mars. For other uses, see Maverick (disambiguation).

Maverick was an American beagle who became the first dog to live on another planet, Mars. She traveled with her owner Emil V. Feliz from Earth to Mars upon Voyage 117 of Starship 320.

Maverick was born and raised as part of a select pool of beagles that were candidates to form the first dog population on Mars. While some derided this project as a waste of resources, proponents argued successfully that such animals would improve mood and reduce instances of depression in colonists suffering from ‘dead world syndrome’ (DWS). In simulated DWS environments on Earth, dogs generally and beagles specifically proved the most effective antidote to the isolation of Mars. As a result, Experimental Cluster 28 was planned around accommodating a small pack of beagles, though an initial female beagle was required due to the limitations of artificial wombs.

Transferring a dog to Mars was met with fierce resistance from activists intent on preserving Mars’ environment and, allegedly, Martian dependence on Earth, directly leading to the foundation of rival groups: the Intergalactic Kennel Club (IKC) and the Friends of Mars.

Maverick would escape Earth, travel to Mars, and live until age 20 Earth-years there before passing away of natural causes. Maverick’s habitat hosts a monument to her impact on the people living off Earth. Most Martian breeds descend from Maverick in some capacity, as well as many dogs bred for spacefaring craft.

Early Life

Maverick was born on Earth as a test candidate in the Intergalactic Kennel Club’s Neighborhood Walk program. She was born fourth in a litter of eight.

As the Neighborhood Walk program progressed, her litter was subject to intense scrutiny from the activist group, Friends of Mars, whose stated mission was to mitigate Earth-based risk to the newly settled planet. Their primary concern was forward contamination, long the domain of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) by the International Council for Scientific Unions (ICSU). After the discovery of the long extinct Ares microbe (see: Martian life before colonization), Earth had placed strict protocols to ascertain any continuing life on Mars. When COSPAR allowed the first bee colony (see: Origins of Martian farming, biological pollination), dissenting members sought to reorganize the body around policies that emphasized more complete understanding of the risks of organism transfer. Their policy called for a blanket ban on new organism transfers until there was certainty Mars had no indigenous life.

“[Friends of Mars] wanted [the IKC] to prove a negative. We’re still finding new life tucked away on Earth—how the hell would we ever show there was no life anywhere on Mars? It had been 50 years with no life detected anywhere near our colonies, any research outpost, or any automated drilling platform. Enough was enough.” -Victoria Deschains, first president of the IKC

Earth regulators had adopted protocols in accordance with this precautionary principle to prevent forward contamination, angering residents on Mars who saw this as lacking in evidence, an obstacle to self-determination, and actively harming current residents suffering from DWS. Despite activist pressure, including activist attempts to cut off the power to the breeding facility, unfounded accusations of mistreatment, and one unsuccessful attempt to poison the dogs, the IKC continued to prepare for a beagle transfer

Because of escalating pressure, however, Maverick and the other test candidates were moved to a remote, confidential location for further testing and preparation. The location is still unknown but is believed to have been near Jupiter, Florida, Earth.

Selection Process

“We needed a dog that could be an entire planet’s best friend, and Maverick was.” -Victoria Deschains, first president of the IKC

To address DWS, psychologists examined the effects of both cats and dogs. Cats had demonstrated effective companionship, were well-tempered in confined quarters, and, due to their independent nature, were considered ideal potential companions for the long journey. However, engineers were intimidated by the design requirements of trying to isolate every life support system from cat’s natural curiosity, agility, and propensity for exploration. Early attempts at bringing cats into orbital environments with simulated gravity also revealed cats were highly attuned to their environments and exhibited signs of extreme stress, despite showing no signs of stress in confined environments on Earth. While these traits were eventually bred out of cats for spacefaring, the early settlers elected for the path of least resistance.

Dogs presented simpler design requirements and also exhibited extremely robust treatment for DWS. With replicated results across different dog breeds, the IKC set out to select breed test candidates for Mars. Breeds and specific dogs would be judged on their disposition as defined as:

While no dog breed represented a perfect mix, the leading breeds for study were the Bichon Frise and Bolognese. Bred for hunting, beagles were in a secondary tier due to their shedding, need for exercise, and louder vocalizations, as well as a general ‘mischievous’ nature. Their status was elevated for testing when it became apparent that their propensity for mischief was tightly correlated with the strength of bond formed between the humans and the dogs. When the IKC reported the results of their research and the environmental design requirements for beagles were demonstrated to be feasible, the settlers of Olympia, Mars voted overwhelmingly for beagles as the first choice.

Emil Victor Feliz of the IKC was Maverick’s handler. Martian protocol for organism transfers at the time called for an organism and a handler to travel, and another permanent settler to be trained for emergencies. When Maverick was selected as the lead candidate, Feliz accepted an invitation to become the planet’s first veterinarian, breeder, and zoologist. Intended as a permanent settler, Feliz’s role on Mars would be to ensure Maverick’s successful integration into the colony, manage her ongoing health, train both the AI and an apprentice, and facilitate embryo transfer to expand the dog population on Mars. Given the controversy on Earth, Feliz would also have to facilitate getting her safely from the training facility to the launchpad. He would also be responsible for recording footage and providing commentary about her life for the television series IKC produced during this time, Beagles in Space, to defray cost of research and build public support for the project.

“Going to Mars would be the last great adventure of my life. When my wife passed, I knew I needed to commit my remaining years to something greater than me. Maverick was the best companion you could ask for, and helping to bring her boundless joy to Mars was the best choice I could have made.” -Emil Feliz

Preparation for Life on Mars

Maverick’s litter was the third generation in her line selected to show little stress in contained environments, limited vocalizations, and extremely easy to train. Maverick spent her first year in training and evaluation before being selected for travel. While still restricted from traveling to space, each of Maverick’s litter prepared in environmental training centers with habitats similar to Starship 320 and Experimental Cluster 28.

Maverick’s litter demonstrated three test candidates, with Maverick having the highest scores in reproductive fitness and therapeutic power for DWS. When it became apparent that several candidates would achieve key benchmarks for overall wellness, reproductive fitness, and temperament for space travel, COSPAR knew they would have to make an active choice to approve or decline Maverick’s transfer license.

The IKC and Martians appealed to COSPAR to license Maverick’s transportation. COSPAR scheduled a meeting to discuss, but key staff aligned with Friends of Mars did not attend. Lacking a quorum, COSPAR could not issue an official verdict. A press release from the Friends of Mars lauded the dissident members and declared that, by blocking this transfer, they had successfully preserved the planet for future generations

“What’s the point of making life better for people if we risk ruining the planet forever?” -J. Akeep, founder, Friends of Mars

Voyage

With COSPAR de facto blocking Maverick's transportation, the IKC had to secure other passage for both Maverick and the cryogenically frozen beagle and beagle-mix embryos for the breeding program. While COSPAR could effectively prevent shipment among sitting members of the UN Security Council, younger nations sought independent launch capabilities free of the military obligations of such tools, as well direct trade relationships with Mars. Therefore they had been slow to sign on to COSPAR restrictions, strictly avoiding nuclear weapons programs, and had been soliciting partners to bring purely civilian technology to their countries. Hoping to be the preeminent spaceport for Africa, Kenya had signed a long term contract with LoudElevators, an orbital delivery service licensing Starships, to provide launch services at Nairobi Space Center.

While Feliz never confirmed the dates or departure location, it is suspected that Maverick left aboard one of the Kenyan launches on 31 October 2157, aged 2. Feliz confirmed that Maverick was sedated for the trip, as “the launch was probably the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done, much scarier than landing on Mars. Of course, any launch would terrify a dog, and we didn’t want to put her through that; but I knew it was a young space center without much track record and a ship built in zero gravity. They did alright though.”

IKC president, Victoria Deschains later defended her decision to GNN, saying:

“They wanted things to stay the same, they were terrified of extreme outcomes without any evidence, and there was so much good that could come from it. ‘What right did I have to send the dog to Mars if all of Earth wanted to stop it?’ For one, it wasn’t all of Earth, I sure wanted to and plenty of others did too. Dogs and people co-evolved, we belong together, even in the stars, and Mars proved it.”

Maverick awoke from sedation in good health after the rendezvous with Starship 320 for its 117th Voyage. The craft had recently been renovated to support 1G with complete radiation shielding, hard requirements for the IKC to initiate a dog transfer. Additionally, it hosted an IKC-designed living quarters suitable for the dog’s and handler’s requirements, wellness packs that Loyal, the premier animal longevity research organization, predicted would extend Maverick’s life to a full 20 Earth-years, and emergency veterinary equipment. The major difference from the IKC kennels was studio equipment, as Feliz was responsible for streaming their voyage for the series Beagles in Space, where they filmed for 1 hour every 24 hour period of their 4 month journey, routinely drawing 10,000 live viewers. Their landing on Mars was the most viewed event in Mars history at that point.

Life on Mars

Maverick was an instant celebrity on Mars. After landing, Maverick was transferred to the space port, where she would be most comfortable but not before dipping her paws in an ink to mark the first dog steps on Mars. From Olympia Space Port, she traveled quickly to Experimental Cluster 28, colloquially referred to as the ‘dog house’. Envoys from different colonies had gathered to greet her, with several native Martians reportedly overwhelmed with emotion at seeing another mammal on Mars, with several stepping outside the habitat to compose themselves. As a result, basic training was put in place for new visitors about how best to interact with a dog, and Feliz would continue to provide oversight to all meetings.

On Mars, the IKC worked with Feliz to carefully balance her schedule. Maverick had short-term obligations as a symbol of the success of Martian colonies and an actual therapy for DWS patients, while also representing the key breeder for a multiplanetary canid species. Maverick would visit Olympia, Musktown 4, and New Hong Kong (see: Harmony, Secession and Refounding) before the first artificial insemination. While she did not travel during her pregnancy, many visitors visited the dog house to view her playing. Within the first month, reports of DWS were down 40%. Her living quarters would remain a popular destination for school field trips.

Maverick’s persistent popularity surprised Feliz. “I thought things would die down after we landed, but it was really just the start. Seeing a dog on grass on Mars was surreal for me, but Maverick may as well have been a furry alien for the natives.” -Feliz, Maverick’s handler

Maverick would ultimately have 8 litters resulting in 24 pups. Designing her litters required balancing political pressure for each colony to get their own beagles, introducing genetic diversity, and the availability of facilities to host different kinds of dogs. Maverick’s only health issue surfaced as an adult with a crack in her canine teeth, requiring titanium crowns that became a signature.

Death and Legacy

Maverick’s life and death opened a new age for human space exploration: non-human companionship. Maverick’s journey was the result of decades of engineering and policy work that ensured not just humanity’s survival but the wellbeing for people, animals, and extraplanetary life.

“It wasn’t all rainbows. People were still people—plenty of ink has been spilled about the accidents and the chaos around people wanting to bring their own dog home. And we could have probably spared ourselves a lot of headaches if we got less mischievous dogs than beagles. But the bond between people and dogs predates language. How could our future not be together too?” -Victoria Deschains, founder of IKC

Maverick would breed until she was 12 Earth years, when the IKC ended the Maverick breeding program because concerned for her health, though her energy never flagged during this time. Over that decade, IKC guidelines had become adopted into standard Martian architecture, such that most facilities were suitable for dogs, though some habitats restricted access. Maverick would continue to live in the dog house with many of her puppies until passing of natural causes at age 22.

With a stable dog population on Mars, Earth countries would relent and several other dogs would ultimately travel to Mars, typically as a luxury companion for tourists and colonists, though some were sold for trade. Still, Maverick left an indelible impact on Martian culture, with monuments to her presence on Olympia, New Hong Kong, and Musktown-14. Many of her shed hairs remain family heirlooms, and most Martian dogs trace some lineage to her.

Maverick is widely attributed to be the reason that beagles are the preferred companion for starship captains and the traditional first animal to step foot on planets beyond Sol.

Thanks to Emma McAleavy, Paige Lambermont, and Andrew Miller for their feedback on drafts of this post.