The Martian Way - Asimov 1952
As I mentioned in the previous post, I am presently reading "Robot Dreams" a book of short stories by Asimov..
In it is Asimov's "The Martian Way". He wrote it in 1952 and then it was thought that the rings of Saturn were large chunks of ice. Nevermind that we know today the ice is much smaller chunks.
If it has been awhile since you read the story, I would encourage you to read it again. Consider the politics of 1952. Now chase an asteroid today and take into account the politics of our time and squabbleso over budgets. Will building on the Moon and Mars be an option? And if they happen because of commercial interests will they be able to be self sufficient or will the drain on Earth's resources be used to shut them down?
- LRK -
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"The Martian Way" is a science fiction novella by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections The Martian Way and Other Stories (1955), The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973), and Robot Dreams(1986). It was also included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two (1973) after being voted one of the best novellas up to 1965
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Protagonists Mario Esteban Rioz and Ted Long are Scavengers: Mars-born humans who scour space for the spent lower stages of spacecraft, which are then recycled on the Martian moon of Phobos. At the beginning of the story, Rioz scolds Long for wasting power listening to Grounder (Earth-born) politician John Hilder's argument that Earth's settlements on Mars,Venus, and the Moon are useless drains on Earth's economy, and that spaceships are wasting irreplaceable water by using it as reaction mass.
A year later, Hilder has used his campaign against "Wasters" to gain power in Earth's Assembly, and has just reduced shipments of water to Mars, putting the Scavengers out of work. When Hamish Sankov, the head of the Martian colony, learns of Hilder's plan to desist all water shipments to Mars, he authorizes Long's plan to travel to Saturn and tow a fragment of ice from the rings to Mars.
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The Martian Way was Asimov's response to the McCarthy Era and an early exploration of terraforming Mars. Asimov's distaste for the anti-Communist campaigns of McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee was expressed in his portrayal of John Hilder's anti-Waster campaign. Asimov writes in his autobiography that he expected to be either lionized or condemned for his attack on McCarthyism, but the story actually generated no reaction at all.[1]As he notes elsewhere, "I must have been too subtle—or too unimportant."[2]
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PDF]ISAAC ASIMOV ROBOT DREAMS MASTERWORKS ... - eBookTrove
www.ebooktrove.com/.../Asimov,
Dreams,” written for this collection, is beautiful and humanizes a robot in a
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l will continue my reading of Asimov's short stories and see what they have to say or suggest.
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
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