 Fantasy: March 05, 2025 Issue [#13014] |
This week: Mars Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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Mars has been flown by, orbited, smacked into, radar inspected, and rocketed onto, as well as bounced upon, rolled over, shoveled, drilled into, baked, and even laser blasted.
—Buzz Aldrin
It's not going to do any good to land on Mars if we're stupid.
—Ray Bradbury
I would enjoy flying to Mars. This was the dream of the first cosmonauts. I wish I could realize it! I am ready to fly without coming back.
—Valentina Tereshkova |
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We've been thinking about Mars for as long as we've been thinking.
Perhaps due to its blood-red appearance, the sky wanderer was often associated with war and gods of war, hence its modern name. At some point, it became understood that Mars was an actual world, perhaps like our own, which of course triggered speculation about what its inhabitants must be like. In keeping with its mythological namesake, these hypothetical Martians have been conceived of as either extremely warlike, or, to provide contrast, very peaceful.
Of course, now, we've learned quite a bit more about the Red Planet, and can say with a high degree of certainty that there are no sentient beings living there—warlike or otherwise. But along the way, we've collected a nice array of stories about what might have been. Edgar Rice Burroughs, perhaps better known for creating Tarzan, conceived of an intricate Martian society complete with beautiful princesses, which must be saved by a warrior from Earth. H.G. Wells had his Martians invade our planet, only to be foiled by (spoiler here) the common cold.
Later, Ray Bradbury somewhat flipped the script on Wells' War of the Worlds, and had us invading Mars, with a similar result: no more Martians. And I'd be remiss to leave out Robert A. Heinlein, whose Martians inadvertently started a cult on Earth.
Science has shown that Mars is a cold, hard place incompatible with any life, let alone sentient life, though speculation still exists about the possibility of basic life there back in the early days of the solar system, when Mars was warm and wet. But the cold, hard facts have yet to stop writers of fiction, so life on Mars still appears in stories—though usually, it's a result of human colonization.
Whether these speculations are any less fantastical than stories of native Martians, I don't know. Some say we have the technology to put up a Mars colony right now. Others say we're not there yet. But there's one thing we can be certain of: if we are able to start a colony on Mars, and we go on to do so, it's only a matter of time before they rise up in revolt and declare independence.
They are, after all, quite warlike. |
Some fantasy, perhaps closer to Earth, perhaps not:
| | | A Renewing [18+] #2259940
Viola longs to surface from her grief and wake the land. If only someone would wake her.
by K Renée  |
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No comments from my last newsletter, "Fantasies"
So that's it for me for now! See you next time. Until then,
DREAM ON!!!
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