Fifty-five years ago, we got our first good look at the surface of Mars — a photo that figures prominently in my new novel The Oppenheimer Alternative. As I said five years ago, on the 50th anniversary of this picture from Mariner IV:Possibly the saddest science photo ever. Our first close-up look at Mars, from Mariner 4, […]
In honor of the discovery of the remains of Beagle 2 on Mars, an excerpt from my novel Red Planet Blues, which mentions it. Martian private-detective Alex Lomax is talking with blackmarket fossil dealer Ernie Gargalian: Since Berling hadn’t yet shown up, I took the opportunity to ask Ernie a question. “So,” I said, doing my […]
On December 3, 1999, the Mars Polar Lander disappeared as it descended toward the red planet. Five days later, an editor with a wonderfully appropriate surname — Catherine Bradbury — at The Globe and Mail: Canada’s National Newspaper called to ask me if I could write a science-fiction story explaining the probe’s disappearance. The only […]
Of course, I’m thrilled that Curiosity is now safe on the surface of Mars. And I’m by no means a sports fan. But I’ve been a bit dismayed by all the comments — almost de rigueur it seems among those who self-identify as geeks — to the effect that Curiosity‘s triumph is more important than, […]
