Mars in Fiction (Pt. 1)

Mars, the great red planet. We have been using it as a source of inspiration for fiction for over 100 years. We are so intrigued by the possibility that humans could one day live on the red planet. Some are now even willing it to happen. As if the other alternative; protecting our planet so that it can continue to nourish life, is no longer appealing!

It's distance is crucial to its compelling nature. Far enough away from us to be different from anything we know, yet close enough that we can imagine journeying there. It is this possibility for such a different life that makes the idea of mars so interesting to us.

Inspiration for the idea of life on mars could date back to Italian Astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. When studying the surface of mars through telescopic observation Schiaparelli recorded seeing structures that he called 'canali' (seen in image below). When writing this in his native Italian he was speaking of channels he could see on the surface. However through mistranslation, in English it was though that he spoke of canals on the surface of mars. With canals being man made structures this of course led to wild imaginations of there being or previously being intelligent life on mars in the from of 'Martians'. The first use of the term 'Martians' in fiction being by Wladislaw Lach-Szyrma in his book Aleriel; or, A Voyage to Other Worlds, written in 1883.

Early writers often told stories of the first voyages to Mars, however now we use the planet as the stage for a tale of settling on mars and making it our home.

Image Source: https://www.sciencesource.com/Doc/TR1_WATERMARKED/1/a/6/8/SS2663710.jpg?d63643988200