The crew is now on its way to the Red Planet: no turning back, at least not for a while. Barring any major complications, they wouldn’t want to anyway. It’s not only the glory of being the first humans to travel to Mars, the paycheck will be pretty impressive, too. For each crewmember, a promissory note was deposited into a private account at the First Galactic Savings & Loan (FGS&L) in the sum of $5 million. Added to this amount will be $5,000 for each day they stay on Mars. Since this mission is scheduled to have the crew living on the surface for a year-and-a-half, each crewman could receive an extra $2.75 million for the trip. (Not to mention the royalties from commercial product endorsements and public speaking engagements, once they are back home.)
The crew will reach Mars late in its dust storm season. Among the possible complications cutting their overall surface stay short, would be heavy dust storm activity upon arrival: thereby forcing them to delay landing. In the past, some robotic missions were stalled in orbit for a month or more before they could safely set down. As the $5 million up-front is a nice sum of money, the $5,000 per day is chicken feed by comparison and not worth the risk of a hazardous landing.
FGS&L was conceived by The Sponsors as a bona fide financial institution, with branches in most major cities throughout the United States. Space enthusiasts from around the world have already opened accounts there, just to be a part of it all. Once people start moving to Mars, they will still need an Earth-based bank to tend to their financial needs during the course of transitioning to a Martian life-style. As many colonists might initially work for The Sponsors on Mars, the money they will earn will be deposited into their accounts for times when future supplies will be sent to Mars on their behalf.