The Synopsis Treasury by Christopher Sirmons Haviland Page B
Authors: Christopher Sirmons Haviland
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Planet. For years I had worked with scientists, engineers, astronauts and other technical specialists: I knew the kinds of people who would go on that first expedition, and knew the politics that would determine who would be selected for the mission.
What I didn’t know—at first—was that the protagonist of my story was part Navaho. When I began to actually write the opening scenes of the novel they seemed dull, constrained and confined. I took a long trip to New Mexico, because the arid mountain country of the Navaho lands reminded me very much of the photographs of the surface of Mars sent back to us by unmanned spacecraft.
It was while I was in New Mexico that it hit me. The protagonist’s father was a Navaho, his mother was a descendant of the Mayflower Pilgrims. His name is Jamie Waterman. The red planet Mars and the blue planet Earth represent the two different cultures struggling against each other in his soul.
Once I understood Jamie, he introduced me to his grandfather Al. They wrote the novel for me.
—Ben Bova
Mars
Proposal for a Novel by Ben Bova
This will be the definitive novel about the coming exploration of the planet Mars. A novel of the near future, Mars will be of interest to a far wider audience than the ordinary science fiction book. In 1988 the Soviet Union will launch unmanned probes that will land on the two moons of Mars. In the early 1990s other probes will follow, both from the USSR and the USA. Some will orbit the planet, others will land on its surface and return samples of Martian soil to scientists on Earth. Mars will be the goal of both nations’ space programs in the 1990s, and we may well see a cooperative effort to reach the Red Planet with the first human explorers before the end of the 1990s. Thus a novel that details realistically the first human team to reach Mars will have a very wide and enthusiastic readership, the kind of audience that was reached by Cosmos and Tom Clancy’s high-tech books.
Background
Picture a worldwide desert, far more barren than Death Valley. Rocks and rust-red sand are everywhere. Rugged mountains rise in the distance; one of them, an ancient volcano, is three times higher than Everest and as large at its base as the state of Iowa. The sun shines brightly in the thin air, yet it is a cold desert, where temperatures plummet down to -100°F each night. The sky is pink, not blue, and deadly dust storms can engulf the entire planet, carried by winds of 200 miles per hour.
That is Mars.
There is life on Mars, hidden within the rocks and boulders that strew the desert sands. And alien life, as well: explorers from the planet Earth.
Mars will begin with the landing team setting down on the surface of the planet. All the main action will take place on Mars itself, although there will be some subplot action in the spacecraft orbiting Mars.
A total of twelve men and women land on Mars; their mission plan calls for them to remain on the surface for six months. Their tasks include studying the native life forms that exist inside the Martian rocks, examining the polar ice cap, determining if water exists underground (it does, as permafrost), mapping the “Grand Canyon” and the ancient volcanoes, detailing the environmental changes as local winter changes into spring, and preparing a base that can receive the next set of explorers. Six men and women remain in orbit around the planet. Their tasks include detailed mapping of the whole planet, weather observations, communications link, backup personnel, and search/rescue operations—if necessary.
The fundamental question facing the explorers is this: Does the microscopic life found within the Martian rocks represent the only kind of life that Mars has ever had? Or was there a more complex, higher form of life on Mars in an earlier era, when water was more abundant and the climate may have been warmer? If so, where are the remains of these higher organisms, and how far along the ladder to intelligence
What I didn’t know—at first—was that the protagonist of my story was part Navaho. When I began to actually write the opening scenes of the novel they seemed dull, constrained and confined. I took a long trip to New Mexico, because the arid mountain country of the Navaho lands reminded me very much of the photographs of the surface of Mars sent back to us by unmanned spacecraft.
It was while I was in New Mexico that it hit me. The protagonist’s father was a Navaho, his mother was a descendant of the Mayflower Pilgrims. His name is Jamie Waterman. The red planet Mars and the blue planet Earth represent the two different cultures struggling against each other in his soul.
Once I understood Jamie, he introduced me to his grandfather Al. They wrote the novel for me.
—Ben Bova
Mars
Proposal for a Novel by Ben Bova
This will be the definitive novel about the coming exploration of the planet Mars. A novel of the near future, Mars will be of interest to a far wider audience than the ordinary science fiction book. In 1988 the Soviet Union will launch unmanned probes that will land on the two moons of Mars. In the early 1990s other probes will follow, both from the USSR and the USA. Some will orbit the planet, others will land on its surface and return samples of Martian soil to scientists on Earth. Mars will be the goal of both nations’ space programs in the 1990s, and we may well see a cooperative effort to reach the Red Planet with the first human explorers before the end of the 1990s. Thus a novel that details realistically the first human team to reach Mars will have a very wide and enthusiastic readership, the kind of audience that was reached by Cosmos and Tom Clancy’s high-tech books.
Background
Picture a worldwide desert, far more barren than Death Valley. Rocks and rust-red sand are everywhere. Rugged mountains rise in the distance; one of them, an ancient volcano, is three times higher than Everest and as large at its base as the state of Iowa. The sun shines brightly in the thin air, yet it is a cold desert, where temperatures plummet down to -100°F each night. The sky is pink, not blue, and deadly dust storms can engulf the entire planet, carried by winds of 200 miles per hour.
That is Mars.
There is life on Mars, hidden within the rocks and boulders that strew the desert sands. And alien life, as well: explorers from the planet Earth.
Mars will begin with the landing team setting down on the surface of the planet. All the main action will take place on Mars itself, although there will be some subplot action in the spacecraft orbiting Mars.
A total of twelve men and women land on Mars; their mission plan calls for them to remain on the surface for six months. Their tasks include studying the native life forms that exist inside the Martian rocks, examining the polar ice cap, determining if water exists underground (it does, as permafrost), mapping the “Grand Canyon” and the ancient volcanoes, detailing the environmental changes as local winter changes into spring, and preparing a base that can receive the next set of explorers. Six men and women remain in orbit around the planet. Their tasks include detailed mapping of the whole planet, weather observations, communications link, backup personnel, and search/rescue operations—if necessary.
The fundamental question facing the explorers is this: Does the microscopic life found within the Martian rocks represent the only kind of life that Mars has ever had? Or was there a more complex, higher form of life on Mars in an earlier era, when water was more abundant and the climate may have been warmer? If so, where are the remains of these higher organisms, and how far along the ladder to intelligence
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