Voyage (novel)

Voyage is a 1996

In 1999, it was adapted as a radio serial for BBC Radio 4 by Dirk Maggs.^[2][3]

Plot summary

The book tells the story in flashbacks during the actual Mars mission of the chronicalised history until the mission's beginning. The

The book centres around chronicling the lives of the future Mars mission astronauts, NASA and contractor personnel all involved in making the mission become a reality, and the shifts within NASA's astronaut and management hierarchy throughout the mission's preparations, including female geologist Natalie York's quest to become an astronaut, and her stormy relationships with fellow astronaut Ben Priest and NERVA engineer Mike Conlig. Other astronauts include Ralph Gershon, a former fighter-bomber pilot involved in illegal bombing missions in Cambodia during the Vietnam War whose dream is to be the first black man in space, and Phil Stone, a veteran Air Force test pilot-turned-astronaut who has flown in a long-term stay on a lunar orbital station before the Mars mission.

In the 1970s, the

However, as a side effect, a number of uncrewed probes – including the Viking program, Pioneer Venus project, Mariner 10, Pioneers 10 and 11, and the Voyager program – are cancelled so that their funding can be redirected to the crewed Mars mission, although another Mariner orbiter is sent to Mars to help prepare for the crewed landing. As a result, although humans walk on Mars, their knowledge of the Solar System, including Mars itself and especially the outer Solar System planets which never get visited without the Pioneer/Voyager missions, is far less than in reality.

Characters

• Natalie York. An intelligent but
  cynical female geologist training to become the first American female astronaut (almost parallel to Sally Ride
  , but she is never mentioned in the book). 'Ares' Mission Specialist. She seemingly acts as the book's protagonist and a characterised incarnation of Baxter's views of NASA and humanity's destiny in space, an all-knowing archetype character used predominantly in Baxter's other novels.
• Phil Stone. A former male US Air Force test pilot who in this timeline, was the last to fly the
  X-15
  rocket plane and the first pilot to ever recover from a supersonic spin. He becomes an astronaut following the Moon landings to fly the Apollo/Moonlab missions. 'Ares' Mars Mission Commander.
• Ralph Gershon. An African-American male US Air Force pilot once involved in illegal CIA operations in Cambodia during the Vietnam War and joins NASA afterward to help develop the first Mars lander. 'Ares' MEM (Mars Excursion Module) Pilot.
• Ben Priest. York's love interest and fellow male astronaut, flight engineer/LEM-less pilot of the doomed Apollo-N mission.
• Gregory Dana. Male aerospace engineer and Nazi death-camp survivor, responsible for the redevelopment of the Mars Mission profile.
• JK Lee. Male Director and Chief Engineer of Columbia Aviation, responsible for building the MEM and very dedicated (if not obsessed) to the task.
• Mike Conlig. In charge of developing the NERVA engine, and York's estranged boyfriend.
• Hans Udet. Male NASA director of the Mars project and a big supporter of NERVA, and former Nazi rocket scientist. Gregory Dana despises him for being the man in charge of the Mittelwerk where Dana was used as slave labor. Udet is a parallel of Arthur Rudolph.
• Bert Seger. Male NASA manager who worked for both Fred Michaels and Joe Muldoon.
• Joe Muldoon. The second man on the Moon (a parallel of
  Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin
  ) and a prominent figurehead and manager in the development of the Mars mission.
• Chuck Jones. A
  Malcolm Scott Carpenter
  ) who was the second American to orbit the Earth, Phil Stone's fellow Moonlab veteran, and commander of the doomed Apollo-N mission.
• Fred Michaels. Male NASA Administrator from 1969 to 1981, a parallel of James E. Webb.
• Jim Dana. Male astronaut, son of Gregory Dana, Command Module Pilot of the doomed Apollo-N.
• Adam Bleeker. Male astronaut and geologist-in-training, Moonlab veteran and contender for the position of 'Ares' Mission Specialist along with Natalie York, but taken off flight status due to concerns about cumulative radiation exposure from long duration space missions.
• Vladimir Viktorenko. Male Soviet cosmonaut, Apollo/Soyuz/Moonlab veteran, and friend of Joe Muldoon and Natalie York.

Spinoffs

The allohistorical setting of the novel was further explored in the short story "Prospero One", in which Baxter focuses on alternate developments in the 1960s British space programme – namely, its first and only crewed flight. The short story was originally published in issue 112 of Interzone, in October 1996.^[4]

The character Joe Muldoon is featured in Baxter's 2018 short story "The Shadow Over the Moon," where he is explicitly stated as being the Apollo 11 backup for Buzz Aldrin.

References

External links

• Animation based in descriptions from the book, using Orbiter Space Flight Simulator