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[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/martian_way.jpg]]
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Asimov had an overdeveloped sense of scale
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* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: {{Inverted}}. The return trip from Saturn to Mars is described as requiring five weeks at a fierce acceleration. This five-week trip would require less than a tenth of an Earth gravity, or very close to a quarter of a Martian gravity.
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* SpaceMadness: Discussed. It's generally believed that people can't stand being out in space for longer than six months, which would rule out the proposed expedition to Saturn. However, Ted Long points out that many Scavengers have been on trips longer than that without ill effects. Granted, those trips were within the inner Solar System, allowing them to return to Mars anytime they wanted to... but they didn't, because they were comfortable with long space trips.
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* SpaceMadness: Discussed. It's generally believed that people can't stand being out in space for longer than six months, months (even on large ships with plenty of entertainment options), which would rule out the proposed expedition to Saturn. However, Ted Long points out that many Scavengers have been on trips longer than that in much less luxurious craft without ill effects. Granted, those trips were within the inner Solar System, allowing them to return to Mars anytime they wanted to... but they didn't, ''didn't'' want to, because they were comfortable with long space trips.life in space.
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* SpaceMadness: Discussed. It's generally believed that people can't stand being out in space for longer than six months, which would rule out the proposed expedition to Saturn. However, Ted Long points out that many Scavengers have been on trips longer than that without ill effects. Granted, those trips were within the inner Solar System, allowing them to return to Mars anytime they wanted to... but they didn't, because they were comfortable with long space trips.
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* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Averted. Ted Long's proposal to harvest Saturn's rings for water is met with initial skepticism because "everybody knows" that people go crazy if they're cooped up in a spaceship that long. Long points out that Scavengers routinely stay in space for long periods, even when they could easily head back to Mars at any time. Sure enough, the voyage from Mars to Saturn and back without any problems in that regard.
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* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Averted. Ted Long's proposal to harvest Saturn's rings for water is met with initial skepticism because "everybody knows" that people go crazy if they're cooped up in a spaceship that long. Long points out that Scavengers routinely stay in space for long periods, even when they could easily head back to Mars at any time. Sure enough, the voyage from Mars to Saturn and back goes off without any problems in that regard.
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** This is apparently the reason Martians can tolerate long space voyages better than Earthers -- for them, a spaceship is just a somewhat smaller version of the living conditions they're accustomed to.
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* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Averted. Ted Long's proposal to harvest Saturn's rings for water is met with initial skepticism because "everybody knows" that people go crazy if they're cooped up in a spaceship that long. Long points out that Scavengers routinely stay in space for long periods, even when they could easily head back to Mars at any time. Sure enough, the voyage from Mars to Saturn and back without any problems in that regard.
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"The Martian Way" has been republished many times; ''{{Magazine/Urania}}'' (issue #7, May 1953, as well as issues #169-173, and issue #1442), ''Literature/TheMartianWayAndOtherStories'' (1955), ''Literature/WorldsToCome'' (1967), ''Literature/TheScienceFictionHallOfFame, Volume Two B'' (1973), ''Literature/TheBestOfIsaacAsimov'' (1973), ''Titan 12'' (1979), ''Literature/IsaacAsimovPresentsTheGreatScienceFictionStoriesVolume141952'' (1986), ''Literature/RobotDreamsCollection'' (1986), ''Literature/OtherWorldsOfIsaacAsimov'' (1987), ''Literature/TheAsimovChronicles: Fifty Years of Isaac Asimov'' (1989), ''Literature/TheMammothBookOfVintageScienceFiction: Short Novels of the 1950s'' (1990), and ''Literature/TheCompleteStories, Volume 2'' (1992).
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"The Martian Way" has been republished many times; times: ''{{Magazine/Urania}}'' (issue #7, May 1953, as well as issues #169-173, and issue #1442), ''Literature/TheMartianWayAndOtherStories'' (1955), ''Literature/WorldsToCome'' (1967), ''Literature/TheScienceFictionHallOfFame, Volume Two B'' (1973), ''Literature/TheBestOfIsaacAsimov'' (1973), ''Titan 12'' (1979), ''Literature/IsaacAsimovPresentsTheGreatScienceFictionStoriesVolume141952'' (1986), ''Literature/RobotDreamsCollection'' (1986), ''Literature/OtherWorldsOfIsaacAsimov'' (1987), ''Literature/TheAsimovChronicles: Fifty Years of Isaac Asimov'' (1989), ''Literature/TheMammothBookOfVintageScienceFiction: Short Novels of the 1950s'' (1990), and ''Literature/TheCompleteStories, Volume 2'' (1992).
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crosswicking
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* AsteroidThicket: Averted and explained, where it's said that perhaps the spaceships didn't have to waste propellant to go around the asteroid belt, since, while on map it looks like a swarm of insects, it would take a serious stroke of bad luck to hit a rock.
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Crosswicking
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* MarsNeedsWater: In this {{novelette}}, spacecraft use water from Earth as reaction mass. To stir up anti-Martian sentiment as part of his campaign, an Earth politician named "Hilder" (though Asimov planned it as an attack on [[UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy Senator McCarthy]]) says that spacers are using up Earth's water. In response, the Martians go to Saturn and haul home one of the ice chunk asteroids which make up {{UsefulNotes/Saturn}}'s rings, providing them with enough water to last 2000 years. The Martians snarkily offer to sell Earth some to "make up for" the minuscule amount of Earth water they've used over the years.
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* GoneHorriblyRight: John Hilder, a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy, has built a rhetoric around the ways that the ColonizedSolarSystem is bleeding resources away from Earth, exploiting the average person's resentment at other people having a bigger piece of the pie to decrease funding and enact an embargo against the Martian colonists because they "waste" Earth's water. The protagonists fetch a chunk of ice from {{UsefulNotes/Saturn}} and tow it to Earth. They return, after one year, with more water than Earth would have sent them in two hundred years, making Hilder's "anti-waste" campaign look ridiculous.
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* GoneHorriblyRight: John Hilder, a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy, has built a rhetoric around the ways that the ColonizedSolarSystem is bleeding resources away from Earth, exploiting the average person's resentment at other people having a bigger piece of the pie to decrease funding and enact an embargo against the Martian colonists because they "waste" Earth's water. The protagonists fetch a chunk of ice from {{UsefulNotes/Saturn}} and tow it back to Earth.Mars. They return, after one year, with more water than Earth would have sent them in two hundred years, making Hilder's "anti-waste" campaign look ridiculous.
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Page Creation
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First published in ''Magazine/GalaxyScienceFiction'' (November 1952 issue) by Creator/IsaacAsimov and republished in their UK (volume 3 issue #3, March 1953) and French (issue #37, December 1956) branches. This {{Novelette}} is Dr Asimov's attempt at an anti-[[UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy McCarthyism]] story and is especially notable for predicting euphoria during spacewalks.
Ted Long, a second-generation colonist[[note]]Might be third/fourth; the only clue is that a first-generation colonist was friends with his father[[/note]], is trying out the Scavenger trade partially because he's fascinated by the culture of the [[SettlingTheFrontier frontier colony]] of Mars. He also keeps an eye on Earth politics, aware of how much the [[ColonizedSolarSystem nascent colonies]] still depend on the original homeworld. He finds that one politician, John Hilder, a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy, has built a rhetoric around the ways in which space travel and the colonies are "wasting" Earth's resources.
Fast-forward a year, and the Scavengers are stuck at home because the Commissioner had declared a moratorium until Earth has decided how it would enforce its new insistence on water conservation. Rumour/fear is that Earth plans to refuse to send any water whatsoever, which would cause the colony to collapse. So Ted convinces a group of Scavengers to tackle a task no-one else has ever tried; a year-long trip to {{UsefulNotes/Saturn}} to collect ice from the rings.
"The Martian Way" has been republished many times; ''{{Magazine/Urania}}'' (issue #7, May 1953, as well as issues #169-173, and issue #1442), ''Literature/TheMartianWayAndOtherStories'' (1955), ''Literature/WorldsToCome'' (1967), ''Literature/TheScienceFictionHallOfFame, Volume Two B'' (1973), ''Literature/TheBestOfIsaacAsimov'' (1973), ''Titan 12'' (1979), ''Literature/IsaacAsimovPresentsTheGreatScienceFictionStoriesVolume141952'' (1986), ''Literature/RobotDreamsCollection'' (1986), ''Literature/OtherWorldsOfIsaacAsimov'' (1987), ''Literature/TheAsimovChronicles: Fifty Years of Isaac Asimov'' (1989), ''Literature/TheMammothBookOfVintageScienceFiction: Short Novels of the 1950s'' (1990), and ''Literature/TheCompleteStories, Volume 2'' (1992).
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!!"The Martian Way" contains examples of:
* AwfulWeddedLife: The Swenson family has a rough relationship, where Dick will spend months out in space, scavenging old rocket parts. His wife, Dora, considers herself a [[SportsWidow widow]] during that time, raising their son Peter alone. She takes out her frustrations on him when he returns, shrewishly scolding him for being gone for so long, until he's full of resentment and leaves. By the time he comes back, he's forgotten about their fights.
* ColonizedSolarSystem: In this story, there are colonies on UsefulNotes/TheMoon, {{UsefulNotes/Venus}}, and {{UsefulNotes/Mars}}. Said colonies are [[SettlingTheFrontier still new, needing resources]]. They live in DomedHometown structures and despite recycling everything, still need resources from Earth. This weakness is turned into a weapon by one of Earth's politicians.
* DomedHometown: {{UsefulNotes/Mars}} is one of [[ColonizedSolarSystem several colonies]] that require sealed habitation. The planet hasn't been terraformed, so many things that we take for granted, such as air and water, are strictly monitored and recycled.
* GoneHorriblyRight: John Hilder, a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy, has built a rhetoric around the ways that the ColonizedSolarSystem is bleeding resources away from Earth, exploiting the average person's resentment at other people having a bigger piece of the pie to decrease funding and enact an embargo against the Martian colonists because they "waste" Earth's water. The protagonists fetch a chunk of ice from {{UsefulNotes/Saturn}} and tow it to Earth. They return, after one year, with more water than Earth would have sent them in two hundred years, making Hilder's "anti-waste" campaign look ridiculous.
* InterplanetaryVoyage: Travel between Earth or the [[ColonizedSolarSystem colonies]] isn't very [[CasualInterstellarTravel easy]] yet. Most of the story takes place out in space, as the protagonists travel around the solar system. The biggest trip is the inaugural effort of Martian colonists to the rings of {{UsefulNotes/Saturn}}, with the goal of capturing some of the ice and bringing it back to {{UsefulNotes/Mars}}.
* TheNamesake: Ted Long, our protagonist and colonist of {{UsefulNotes/Mars}}, is obsessed with what he calls "The Martian Way". To him, it is the [[SettlingTheFrontier frontier spirit/culture]] that has developed due to their distance from Earth. Many things are "The Martian Way" for him, but midway through the story, during [[InterplanetaryVoyage the trip]] to {{UsefulNotes/Saturn}}, he talks about how building more colonies and expanding human civilization is the destiny of Martian colonists, not Grounders from Earth.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: John Hilder, and his anti-Waster campaign, is a mockery of UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy and his RedScare campaign. Hilder calls for an embargo on trade with {{UsefulNotes/Mars}}, as a strategy to start forcing the [[ColonizedSolarSystem colonies of the inner solar system]] to shut down.
* OneWorldOrder: There's not much said about the world government, but it is implied to essentially be the same branches as the USA's. The General Assembly is a legislative branch with committees and Assemblyman Hilder is aiming to become the next Global Co-ordinator. The [[ColonizedSolarSystem colonies]] appear to have their own local governments because they sign trade deals with Earth.
* SettlingTheFrontier: The ColonizedSolarSystem is in its infancy, and each colony represents a drain on Earth's resources because they're still growing. This is extremely common in frontier societies because the growing colonies are usually not immediately self-sufficient. The distance and hardships of colonizing also cause the culture of colonies to shift away from the parent society. Martian colonists have a number of traits that distinguish them from their "Grounder" counterparts.
* SportsWidow: Dora Swenson complains to her husband that she hates the way he would spend months away from home, wishing that he would find employment in any other job, as long as it was on Mars, so that they could actually live together and he would be present to help her raise their son, Peter.
-->"You can make a decent, honorable living right here on Mars, just like everybody else. I'm the only one in this apartment house that's a Scavenger widow. That's what I am- a widow. I'm worse than a widow, because if I were a widow, I'd at least have a chance to marry someone else-"
----
Ted Long, a second-generation colonist[[note]]Might be third/fourth; the only clue is that a first-generation colonist was friends with his father[[/note]], is trying out the Scavenger trade partially because he's fascinated by the culture of the [[SettlingTheFrontier frontier colony]] of Mars. He also keeps an eye on Earth politics, aware of how much the [[ColonizedSolarSystem nascent colonies]] still depend on the original homeworld. He finds that one politician, John Hilder, a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy, has built a rhetoric around the ways in which space travel and the colonies are "wasting" Earth's resources.
Fast-forward a year, and the Scavengers are stuck at home because the Commissioner had declared a moratorium until Earth has decided how it would enforce its new insistence on water conservation. Rumour/fear is that Earth plans to refuse to send any water whatsoever, which would cause the colony to collapse. So Ted convinces a group of Scavengers to tackle a task no-one else has ever tried; a year-long trip to {{UsefulNotes/Saturn}} to collect ice from the rings.
"The Martian Way" has been republished many times; ''{{Magazine/Urania}}'' (issue #7, May 1953, as well as issues #169-173, and issue #1442), ''Literature/TheMartianWayAndOtherStories'' (1955), ''Literature/WorldsToCome'' (1967), ''Literature/TheScienceFictionHallOfFame, Volume Two B'' (1973), ''Literature/TheBestOfIsaacAsimov'' (1973), ''Titan 12'' (1979), ''Literature/IsaacAsimovPresentsTheGreatScienceFictionStoriesVolume141952'' (1986), ''Literature/RobotDreamsCollection'' (1986), ''Literature/OtherWorldsOfIsaacAsimov'' (1987), ''Literature/TheAsimovChronicles: Fifty Years of Isaac Asimov'' (1989), ''Literature/TheMammothBookOfVintageScienceFiction: Short Novels of the 1950s'' (1990), and ''Literature/TheCompleteStories, Volume 2'' (1992).
----
!!"The Martian Way" contains examples of:
* AwfulWeddedLife: The Swenson family has a rough relationship, where Dick will spend months out in space, scavenging old rocket parts. His wife, Dora, considers herself a [[SportsWidow widow]] during that time, raising their son Peter alone. She takes out her frustrations on him when he returns, shrewishly scolding him for being gone for so long, until he's full of resentment and leaves. By the time he comes back, he's forgotten about their fights.
* ColonizedSolarSystem: In this story, there are colonies on UsefulNotes/TheMoon, {{UsefulNotes/Venus}}, and {{UsefulNotes/Mars}}. Said colonies are [[SettlingTheFrontier still new, needing resources]]. They live in DomedHometown structures and despite recycling everything, still need resources from Earth. This weakness is turned into a weapon by one of Earth's politicians.
* DomedHometown: {{UsefulNotes/Mars}} is one of [[ColonizedSolarSystem several colonies]] that require sealed habitation. The planet hasn't been terraformed, so many things that we take for granted, such as air and water, are strictly monitored and recycled.
* GoneHorriblyRight: John Hilder, a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy, has built a rhetoric around the ways that the ColonizedSolarSystem is bleeding resources away from Earth, exploiting the average person's resentment at other people having a bigger piece of the pie to decrease funding and enact an embargo against the Martian colonists because they "waste" Earth's water. The protagonists fetch a chunk of ice from {{UsefulNotes/Saturn}} and tow it to Earth. They return, after one year, with more water than Earth would have sent them in two hundred years, making Hilder's "anti-waste" campaign look ridiculous.
* InterplanetaryVoyage: Travel between Earth or the [[ColonizedSolarSystem colonies]] isn't very [[CasualInterstellarTravel easy]] yet. Most of the story takes place out in space, as the protagonists travel around the solar system. The biggest trip is the inaugural effort of Martian colonists to the rings of {{UsefulNotes/Saturn}}, with the goal of capturing some of the ice and bringing it back to {{UsefulNotes/Mars}}.
* TheNamesake: Ted Long, our protagonist and colonist of {{UsefulNotes/Mars}}, is obsessed with what he calls "The Martian Way". To him, it is the [[SettlingTheFrontier frontier spirit/culture]] that has developed due to their distance from Earth. Many things are "The Martian Way" for him, but midway through the story, during [[InterplanetaryVoyage the trip]] to {{UsefulNotes/Saturn}}, he talks about how building more colonies and expanding human civilization is the destiny of Martian colonists, not Grounders from Earth.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: John Hilder, and his anti-Waster campaign, is a mockery of UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy and his RedScare campaign. Hilder calls for an embargo on trade with {{UsefulNotes/Mars}}, as a strategy to start forcing the [[ColonizedSolarSystem colonies of the inner solar system]] to shut down.
* OneWorldOrder: There's not much said about the world government, but it is implied to essentially be the same branches as the USA's. The General Assembly is a legislative branch with committees and Assemblyman Hilder is aiming to become the next Global Co-ordinator. The [[ColonizedSolarSystem colonies]] appear to have their own local governments because they sign trade deals with Earth.
* SettlingTheFrontier: The ColonizedSolarSystem is in its infancy, and each colony represents a drain on Earth's resources because they're still growing. This is extremely common in frontier societies because the growing colonies are usually not immediately self-sufficient. The distance and hardships of colonizing also cause the culture of colonies to shift away from the parent society. Martian colonists have a number of traits that distinguish them from their "Grounder" counterparts.
* SportsWidow: Dora Swenson complains to her husband that she hates the way he would spend months away from home, wishing that he would find employment in any other job, as long as it was on Mars, so that they could actually live together and he would be present to help her raise their son, Peter.
-->"You can make a decent, honorable living right here on Mars, just like everybody else. I'm the only one in this apartment house that's a Scavenger widow. That's what I am- a widow. I'm worse than a widow, because if I were a widow, I'd at least have a chance to marry someone else-"
----
