Archangel II represents the last of its kind - a plane that can travel into space. It has plane like aerodynamics because it needs to safely navigate the atmosphere of the Earth, but in truth it carries a technology that will soon make that requirement completely redundant. Archangel II is too big and heavy to fly in the conventional sense but it has gravity plates. Gravity - a force that for so long eluded our understanding. Why did it only ever exert its will in one direction? GRAVEX solved the mystery and created the gravity plate. In space, Archangel's gravity plates keep its passengers comfortably tied to the floor. But on take off they push the other way and make Archangel weightless on Earth. It then takes little effort to get Archangel to an altitude of 20 km using conventional jet engines, after which the ion engines take over and rush the ship on its way to Mars.

The journey to Mars is a long one. With the best planetary alignments the voyage still takes six months. That is too long for most people to be couped up in a ship, even one as comfortable as Archangel II. The answer is the deep sleep of suspended animation. Passengers can choose to be awake between three and six weeks at the start and end of the trip. In the middle they are asleep in their cabins, which also serve as life boats should the worst ever happen.

As the passengers sleep so do most of the crew. There are always a couple of humans awake on the ship, but the real management of Archangel II is handled by the AI Asu and the navigation computer Ereb. Because of Asu some people believe the ship is "alive". There are those who never want to sleep. They spend every minute they can at the window looking into the depths of space. They are the Vekaj.

A trip to Mars is a profound experience. It doesn't matter how much money you have or where you come from, crossing the void from Earth to another world affects everybody, and in different ways. Some find the sight of the Earth disappearing out of view too much to bear. They end up asleep earlier than they planned. Some find the vision of Mars overwhelming. Some go quiet as they try and process what is happening to them. And some just party on. Cerulean advise that you prepare; that you live the waking of the Red Dream Time so that when you walk on the surface you honour this foreign land.

For 3D modelling, download the Archangel II blueprints (zip):