ZB13

When Stephen Baxter had been writing for a few years, there was an opinion amongst many sf readers that "Baxter can do Big Dumb Objects, but he can't do characters for toffee." Then along came "Voyage" and blew that opinion out of the water.

The premise - an alternate universe where Kennedy survived assassination (just), and, invited by Nixon to the Oval Office to share in the reflected glory of the telephone call to the Moon in 1969, steals the show by publicly calling from his wheelchair for the next goal to be Mars, and no-one has the heart to raise any practical objections.

The story then develops as NASA devise a plan and begin to work towards it using 1960s technology. The characters have stepped straight out of "The Right Stuff" but they are beginning to get out of their depth. There are accidents, and there are human stories as the double standards of using Nazi rocket science come home to roost. Finally, the mission is accomplished, but at a price. And with a twist that shows that the alternate history Baxter portrays is truly different to ours.

(Baxter developed the universe of this novel in a short story [not collected, AFAIK] where a British attempt to put a man - Roly Beaumont, top test pilot of the 1950s - into orbit fails...) ( )

An excellent story of a manned mission to mars. ( )

Every space geek has fantasised about what would happen if nasa had chased Mars instead of the space shuttle. Most people think the shuttle was a mistake, and so therefore Mars would have been a much better thing.
This book charts an alternate history where NASA did shoot for Mars, but does so with similar style to how we saw the shuttle pan out. Politics are real an interfere with things, budgets are cut, accidents happen and suddenly the wet dream that is Mars suddenly becomes the harsh and unforgiving mistress that she probably is.
All that said I still think this is a positive and hopeful look at what NASA could have done and what it might have got wrong. If you've ever looked hopefully to Mars and considered the shuttle program a mistake then do read this book and see if it gives you second thoughts.

A very good book that avoids the pose coloured glasses many people see avenues untaken with yet still maintains the wonder at what we missed.

Personally after reading it, I was left thinking the boondongle that was the shuttle program was a better choice than the Mars mission as portrayed here - I know others disagree, but that is a discussion for another place... ( )

A great alternate history of what might-have-been at NASA if it had continued to develop the Apollo program instead of detouring towards the space shuttle. Has enough hardware to be satisfying but the book is much more about the astronauts and their personal and political trials. ( )