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[[caption-width-right:200:Mars awaits...]]
''Voyage'' is a 1996 AlternateHistory novel by British science fiction writer Creator/StephenBaxter. It is set in a timeline with a simple divergence from our history: Lee Harvey Oswald didn't manage to assassinate US president UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and, by accident, shot his wife instead.
The alternate [[TheSixties 1960s]] pass mostly in a vein similar to our own history, but subtle little divergences keep popping up. The final, major divergence of the timeline occurs after the first Moon landing in 1969. The now-retired president Kennedy is allowed a few moments of radio contact, in order to do a little congratulatory speech to the Apollo 11 crew. To everyone's surprise, Kennedy very blatantly hints at the need to focus on making a similar landing on Mars in the coming decade. This eventually forces UsefulNotes/{{NASA}} to cave in to popular pressure from people that were moved by Kennedy's speech. In about two years after the first Moon landing, the history of American astronautics starts taking a rather different route than the one we know...
The novel then follows - both in chronological and anachronic order - the various spaceflight developments of the 70s and 80s, through the eyes of a diverse cast of primary and secondary characters (some historical, some fictional). In the late 1970s, NASA launches a test flight of a promising and much-touted Mars spacecraft. However, things go awry... The American space program is then forced to work quickly on a new solution for the Mars mission, or else it's curtains...
Eventually, in March 1985, a semi-improvised mission dubbed ''Ares'' is finally launched from Cape Canaveral. Aboard are three carefully picked astronauts: Phil Stone, Ralph Gershon and Natalie York. And the [[TitleDrop titular voyage]] to Mars begins...
The novel won the 1997 Sidewise Award for Alternate History and was nominated that same year for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Also in 1997, BBC Radio 4 had adapted ''Voyage'' into a five-part abridged radio play (since then, it has been rebroadcast occasionally, last time in 2009).
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!! This novel contains examples of:
* AcePilot: Ralph Gershon is a ground attack ace who served in [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]]. Phil Stone is a subversion, since he's a retired [[UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar Korean War]] ace that moved on to being a test pilot of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_X-15 X-15]] suborbital spaceplane in the 50s and 60s.
* AllohistoricalAllusion: The author has fun with {{Shout Out}}s to the names of the Space Shuttle orbiters from our timeline (which weren't built in this one due to the changed priorities of the US space program):
** As part of the larger ''Ares'' spacecraft, the Apollo command module (crew capsule) itself is dubbed ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Discovery Discovery]]''. In fairness, as the characters themselves [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]], they christen it after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_%281602_ship%29 the ship of 16th/17th century explorer Henry Hudson]]. This is basically the same decision as in OTL with the eponymous Space Shuttle orbiter.
** The habitation module of the ''Ares'' spacecraft is dubbed ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Endeavour Endeavour]]'', in honor of James Cook's most famous exploratory vessel. You probably know already which [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Endeavour spacecraft from our timeline]] received that same name...
** The Mars landing module, built by the fictional company [[UnderdogsNeverLose Columbia Aviation]], is christened ''Challenger''. The first Mars landing occurs in spring 1986. In our timeline, a major spaceflight accident occurred in January 1986, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster concerning a certain Space Shuttle during its take-off]]... The name of the Mars lander might also be a reference to the lunar module of Apollo 17, also named ''Challenger''. [[spoiler:Since Apollo 17 is cancelled in the novel's timeline, the name of the module could still remain unused and seem novel to the alternate NASA's staff.]]
* AlternateHistory: One that focuses primarily on alternate spaceflight developments and the fate of the people involved in them.
* AnachronicOrder: The main narrative strand of the novel is the flight to Mars itself aboard the ''Ares'', following the three main characters (Phil Stone, Natalie York and Ralph Gershon). However, each chapter of the main narrative is intercut with a flashback chapter that focuses on the past careers and experiences of the main and secondary characters, in a time span of an alternate quarter century (from the early 1960s to the mid 1980s).
* AudienceSurrogate: Natalie York, who's also the closest thing to a main protagonist in the novel. She's not a professional astronaut, just the mission's geologist. She's the only civilian in the three member crew of the ''Ares''. In the chapters showing her student years and early fascination with planetary geology, she often plays the role of a DeadpanSnarker that is critical of overambitious and risky spacecraft projects, such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA NERVA]].
* AuthorAvatar: Subverted. Some feel that Natalie slips into this occasionally, in addition to being an AudienceSurrogate character. But most of the time, she is just her own character. While Baxter uses her at times for DeadpanSnarker [[AuthorAppeal comments about overhyped or overcomplicated spacecraft projects (like NERVA)]], he generally tries to avoid making her sound preachy or having an OutOfCharacterMoment.
* CasualInterplanetaryTravel: Averted all the way, since the novel tries to accurately portray what a realistic mission to Mars would be like. Especially one that utilizes mostly reused older equipment and avoids opting for overly high-tech solutions.
* ExecutiveMeddling: Occurs in-universe both in a negative and ''positive'' sense. The main positive example would be [[{{Determinator}} Kennedy's congratulatory speech to the Apollo 11 astronauts]]. He deliberately peppers it with openly provocative hints of "We need to follow this up with a flight to Mars ASAP!" He does it partly to help promote the importance of continuing US manned spaceflight past the end of the Apollo programme and partly because he wants to {{troll}} president Nixon in a FriendlyRivalry kind of way...
* {{Expy}} / CaptainErsatz: Joe Muldoon instead of UsefulNotes/BuzzAldrin. Baxter [[ShrugOfGod never adequately explains]] whether Muldoon is Buzz Aldrin with the SerialNumbersFiledOff or whether he is meant to be a wholly fictional character (though one that is similar to Aldrin personality-wise).
* ForWantOfANail: President Kennedy survived the Dallas assassination attempt and further influences NASA's decision-making throughout the following decade. An early hint of the alternate history aspects of the novel comes from the otherwise throwaway mention of the "Jacqueline B. Kennedy Space Center", instead of the John F. Kennedy Space Center of our timeline.
* GoneHorriblyWrong: [[spoiler:The test flight of the NERVA-style (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application) Mars spacecraft in the late 70s ends in complete fiasco. The entire crew is killed and the fallout - both figurative and ''literal'' - creates a massive HypeBacklash against the project and casts a shadow over NASA as a whole.]] But the situation improves, NASA gets its act together and launches a replacement Mars mission within less than a decade.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: John F. Kennedy, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon, UsefulNotes/NeilArmstrong, John Young and many, many more...
* InSpiteOfANail: The novel's alternate 1960s [[CloseEnoughTimeline aren't that different from ours]] (much of NASA's program is the same, there is still a Vietnam War, etc.), but the geopolitical and spaceflight divergences start to gradually stack up after the early 1970s. It is stated, however, that Apollo 13 still had its mishap. There is also no change to who is elected President – the only difference is that UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter's Vice President is UsefulNotes/TedKennedy rather than UsefulNotes/WalterMondale.
* InterplanetaryVoyage: As the title implies. Even though the idea of a flight to Mars seems fairly low-concept, Baxter manages to make it interesting by explaining in depth all the technical, economic and political obstacles and challenges along the way, as well as giving detailed descriptions of the solutions involved. Best of all, he does it in layman terms and manages to pull it off without the novel coming across as boring or full of {{technobabble}}.
* MeaningfulName: While it is based mostly on modified Apollo program hardware and its derivatives, the spacecraft to Mars is christened "Ares" - [[ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming after the Greek god of war]] [[Myth/ClassicalMythology that the Roman one was based on]]. The name "Ares" [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ares_%28rocket%29 has been pretty popular for various proposed rockets and spacecraft from our history]].
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: [[ZigZaggingTrope Mostly averted, but also played straight in a few instances]] - particularly with replacing Buzz Aldrin with a certain Joe Muldoon. Also, while the trio of main characters is fictional, some readers have suggested they're based (to varying degrees) on these three RealLife astronauts:
** Phil Stone -> [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Engle Joe Engle]]
** Ralph Gershon -> [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guion_Bluford Guion Bluford]]
** Natalie York -> [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Ride Sally Ride]] (though she's the most loosely related or similar to her real world counterpart)
* OhCrap: Phil's reaction in one of the retrospective chapters, where the attitude thrusters on his X-15 start malfunctioning due to a technical error.
* ShownTheirWork: Baxter really did try to do his premise justice and it shows. The technology used for the flight to Mars is, for the most part, based directly on cancelled 60s and 70s projects that were well in the range of economic and technological plausibility. The only parts of the ''Ares'' spacecraft that are largely fictional and based on conjecture are the habitation module and ''Challenger'' landing module. And even then, [[AllohistoricalAllusion it is hinted at]] that the habitation module was designed in a manner similar to the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylab Skylab]]'' space station's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylab#Habitability living quarters]] from our timeline. The ''Challenger'' landing module is also inspired by the [[http://www.astronautix.com/craft/mem.htm Mars Excursion Module]] (MEM) lander concept from the late 1960s and has a corresponding outward layout.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Baxter's works often have a skeptical and cynical outlook on humanity, especially its tendency for short-sighted apathy towards science. While this novel [[AuthorFilibuster does highlight some of the failings of spaceflight programs and attitudes towards them in both our and the alternate timeline]], the conclusion and final message of the novel [[EarnYourHappyEnding is essentially optimistic]]. [[spoiler:The crew successfully land in Mangala valley on Mars and Natalie, to her surprise, is given the opportunity to be the first human being to walk on another planet. She hesitates, but accepts and casts the first footprints in the red soil. After a silent stroll in front of the cameras, she [[UnaccustomedAsIAmToPublicSpeaking hesitates over what to say]]. As a geologist at heart, she feels humbled by the Martian landscape. Finally, she exclaims a happy "I'm home."]].
* SmallReferencePools: Averted in regards to the planned landing site of the Mars mission. The landing is supposed to take place in the valley of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangala_Valles Mangala Valles]]. While known, it is certainly not one of the Martian geographic features that are considered highly iconic in the popular imagination.
* SimpleYetAwesome: The ''Ares'' mission in general, particularly when you consider it was cobbled together after the original, technologically far more grandiose Mars mission, failed spectacularly. It is also a kind of subversion, since the ''Ares'' comes across as BoringButPractical at face value.
* SingleBiomePlanet: Justified in the case of Mars, given how, from an Earthling's point of view, it's an entirely inhospitable rocky alien desert planet. Subverted in that, outside of Earth, Mars has some of the most varied surface geography of any planet in the Solar System.
* {{Spinoff}}: Baxter also wrote the short story ''[[http://web.archive.org/web/20050310032846/http://www.cix.co.uk/~sjbradshaw/baxterium/prospero.html Prospero One]]'', which is set in [[TheVerse the same universe]], but focuses on [[WhatCouldHaveBeen alternate developments of the 1960s]] [[HeroOfAnotherStory British]] [[WhatCouldHaveBeen space programme]]. Several {{Shout Out}}s are given to the main novel and there are even more {{Allohistorical Allusion}}s towards the history of spaceflight in our timeline - in this case, the stillborn [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_space_programme#British_space_vehicles_1950-1985 British spaceflight programme]] that seemed promising for a certain amount of time in the 1960s, before its cancellation by Harold Wilson. The name of the eponymous manned spacecraft in the short story is a nod at the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospero_X-3 Prospero X-3 satellite]], launched in our version of the 1960s.
* TokenMinority: Ralph Gershon wants to actually avert this trope by proving that he didn't join the ''Ares'' mission just because he's a black astronaut.
* UnderdogsNeverLose: The design that becomes the final ''Ares'' spacecraft is at first rejected on the grounds that it is far too slow and technologically obsolete. After the [[spoiler:NERVA accident in the late 70s]], NASA and the US government reconsider and decide to try out the original proposal after all, instead of fancier, but risky technology. And ''[[RockBeatsLaser it really works]]''. Also, the fictional company Columbia Aviation is dismissed as not having much of a chance to win the design contract for the Mars lander, but NASA eventually adopts it and strikes a deal with the small company.
* WhatIf: What if NASA had pulled off a manned mission to Mars already in the mid-1980s? Also, "1960s-1980s astronautics what-ifs" in general...
* WishFulfillment: ''Subverted massively'', since Baxter [[GenreSavvy was well aware]] of the limitations of supporting a large-scale space programme, even in an alternate timeline. His ultimate point seems to be: [[NewTechIsNotCheap "If you want to go to Mars in the 70s or 80s, fine. But you'll have to make some harsh sacrifices."]] Yes, the Apollo program hardware is further expanded upon and is eventually used for a manned flight to Mars. Yes, research into NERVA rockets gets further than in our history due to increased funding. ''But'', on the downside: The Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions are cancelled, the Space Shuttle project is completely stillborn, and worst of all, most of the useful planetary space probes from our history were cancelled in this timeline. The American space station projects are expanded though. This is all done so the manned flight to Mars can profit from a larger budget and more astronauts experienced in above-orbit spaceflights. The lack of sufficient space probe exploration in ''Voyage'''s timeline (no ''Mariner 10'', ''Pioneer'', ''Voyager'', ''Viking'' probes) eventually leads to an unfortunate consequence: Astronomers, common people and even the crew of the Mars mission know far less detailed information about the planets of the Solar System than people in our timeline knew during the same historical period. ''This includes Mars'', due to the cancellation of the ''Viking'' missions. BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor ''[[TakeThatAudience indeed]]''!
* WriterOnBoard: Though handled subtly, it is clear that the author would have preferred it if the US government had funded NASA better after the end of the Apollo programme and would have been overjoyed if the landings on Mars had already happened.
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!!Adaptations of the novel:
* The aforementioned 5-part radio play, presenting a somewhat abridged adaptation of the novel. Produced in 1997 by BBC Radio 4.
* GameMod: The novel has enough of a following among the AlternateHistory and ScienceFiction fandoms that it didn't take long for a mod based on the novel to appear - as an add-on for the ''{{VideoGame/Orbiter}} Spaceflight Simulator''. You can find it [[http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3393 here]]. There's also [[http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3865 an add-on]] that roughly adapts the [[spoiler:ill-fated]] NERVA-style spacecraft from the novel.
* FanFilm: As an extension of the above ''Ares'' mod, ''{{VideoGame/Orbiter}}'' fan Seferino Rengel has used it to make an intriguing {{machinima}} adaptation of the mission's entire flight. In under 10 minutes, complete with a stirring soundtrack. You can watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrbvM5HuQRE here]].
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