Life on Mars
Did you see that four NASA astronauts emerged from a simulated Mars environment this month after a year? According to the AP, “the quartet lived and worked inside the space of 1,700 square feet (157 square meters) to simulate a mission to the red planet.” What must it have been like to be in that isolation? I hear NASA simulated crises for them to deal with, and I can only imagine what kind of stress that would have added to their daily existence. What did they eat? What did it sound like in their space? What did they have to wear to go “outside”? Were they able to communicate with the outside world?
Authors have been imagining life on Mars for ages, with scenarios ranging from tragic to comic. Below are some great books about life in outer space. Blast off with one of these and see what you imagine.
Larklight series by Philip Reeve and David Wyatt (started in 2006)
Art and his sister live in a spaceship-house past the moon. When giant spiders attack the house and take their father, the two are launched on an escape pod and begin their adventure to survive and save their family. They meet up with space pirates, evil bureaucrats, and more. In the second book in the series, they visit a resort on Mars that is trapped in a time loop and taken over by Moobs, creatures who eat thoughts.
Red Rising series by Pierce Brown (started in 2014)
Citizens on Mars are divided into different classes. Our hero Darrow is a Red, folks who spend their days underneath the surface, mining materials to terraform the planet. When Darrow discovers that the surface has been settled for years and the Reds remain slaves to an elite class, he joins the resistance. See my Ask a Kid post about this series.
Martians Abroad by Carrie Vaughn (2017)
Two siblings born and raised on Mars attend boarding school on Earth. Vaughn does a great job with the details of what it would be like to adjust to Earth’s gravity and the shock of being outside without a protective mask and space suit. At the school, every lesson turns into a test as the siblings try to compete with Earth’s elite.
Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal (started in 2018)
Elma York, who has a brilliant mathematical mind, works for the nascent space program alongside her husband in 1952 when a meteorite hits the east coast of the United States. Though their lives are spared, everything is changed by this disaster, especially when Elma calculates that the collision has likely set off an extinction-level event. She works to convince the government to start colonizing other planets. A former transport pilot in the war, she dreams of going to space herself and slowly pushes the program to look further than the white men they currently consider as astronaut material. In the second book, Elma is part of a team traveling to Mars, but she starts off on the wrong foot when her addition to the team means her friend is grounded.
The Infinity Particle by Wendy Xu (2023)
Life on the Mars colony is full of AI companions and helpers in this YA graphic novel. Clementine is thrilled to be working for her idol Dr. Lin, who is an expert on AI creation. Clementine develops a bond with Dr. Lin’s humanoid AI named Kye, a relationship that puts both of them in jeopardy as Kye develops beyond his programming. Really touching and thought-provoking book. Note: the book deals with physical and verbal abuse and recovery from trauma.