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The Martian Way

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On Mars, Hilder's allies are pressing Sankov to terminate all water exports to the Martian colony. When he hears from the returning Scavengers, Sankov signs. Two days later, the Scavengers land their ice-spacecraft in full view of the press, and Sankov announces that the fragment they brought holds
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The final journey back to Mars is described to be under constant acceleration (except for brief shutdowns for rest) which took five weeks, with the acceleration being well above the comfortable threshold for human beings. However, even with the maximum distance possible between Mars and Saturn, the
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was expressed in his portrayal of John Hilder's anti-Waster campaign. Asimov wrote 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. He said elsewhere, "I must have been too subtle—or too
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A fleet of 25 Scavenger ships makes the trip. Reaching the rings, the Scavengers choose a fragment approximately one cubic mile in volume, carve it into a rough cylinder, embed their spaceships in it, and fly it back to Mars, using the fragment's ice as reaction mass, in five weeks.
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200 times the amount of water that Earth had been sending to Mars annually, and that if Earth cannot afford to lose any more water, the Martians will sell some of theirs. Long takes this situation as confirmation that Martians, instead of Terrestrials, shall colonize the remaining
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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 terminate
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When Asimov wrote "The Martian Way" in 1952, it was thought that the fragments making up Saturn's rings might be over a mile in diameter. It is now known that none of the ring fragments is more than a few meters in diameter.
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has interpreted Asimov's choice of a mixture of Anglo-Saxon, Slavic, Latin and Scandinavian names (respectively, Ted Long, Hamish Sankov, Mario Rioz and Richard Swenson) for the Martian characters as a celebration of the
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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
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insisted that one be included. Asimov complied by giving Richard Swenson a shrewish wife. It was not what Gold had in mind, but he accepted the story anyway.
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constant acceleration and deceleration required to make such a journey in five weeks would have been below 1 m/s.
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informs his picture of the Martians, who can withstand isolation and lack of space much better than Earthborn humans.
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are useless drains on Earth's economy, and that spaceships are wasting irreplaceable water by using it as
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Asimov was particularly proud of the story's prediction of the euphoria to be experienced by
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The Martian Way of the title may be seen as an expression of the idea of
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There were originally no female characters in "The Martian Way", but
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water shipments to Mars, he authorizes Long's plan to travel to
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Mars. Asimov's distaste for the anti-Communist campaigns of
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Works originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction
122: 102: 94: 84: 72: 62: 52: 42: 32: 18: 415: 332:which were then still 15 years in the future. 574: 492: 8: 405: 403: 175:The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two 581: 567: 559: 499: 485: 477: 24: 15: 341: 278:House Un-American Activities Committee 461:Internet Speculative Fiction Database 7: 237:and tow a fragment of ice from the 355:World Book Online Reference Center 14: 509:The Martian Way and Other Stories 422:. Sphere Books. pp. ix–xiv. 157:The Martian Way and Other Stories 154:and reprinted in the collections 172:(1986). It was also included in 317:tradition. Also, Asimov's own 1: 264:was Asimov's response to the 727:Fiction about water scarcity 268:and an early exploration of 753: 717:Short stories set on Mars 602: 520: 23: 707:Novellas by Isaac Asimov 591:The Best of Isaac Asimov 418:The Best of Isaac Asimov 294:Frederick Jackson Turner 163:The Best of Isaac Asimov 737:Works about McCarthyism 349:Spinrad, Hyron (2004). 410:Asimov, Isaac (1973). 151:Galaxy Science Fiction 78:Galaxy Science Fiction 459:title listing at the 302:Arnold Joseph Toynbee 722:Novels set on Saturn 365:on December 29, 2010 389:, Doubleday, 1979, 386:In Memory Yet Green 296:and the idea of a " 144:by American writer 712:1952 short stories 608:Marooned off Vesta 306:Joseph F. Patrouch 694: 693: 678:The Billiard Ball 650:The Last Question 556: 555: 298:creative minority 130: 129: 98:Galaxy Publishing 744: 643:The Fun They Had 583: 576: 569: 560: 501: 494: 487: 478: 472:Internet Archive 442: 441: 421: 407: 398: 381: 375: 374: 372: 370: 361:. Archived from 346: 313:of the American 286:manifest destiny 123:Publication date 85:Publication type 28: 16: 752: 751: 747: 746: 745: 743: 742: 741: 697: 696: 695: 690: 664:The Dying Night 629:The Martian Way 598: 587: 557: 552: 526:The Martian Way 516: 505: 467:The Martian Way 456:The Martian Way 451: 446: 445: 430: 409: 408: 401: 397:, pp. 650, 661. 383:Asimov, Isaac, 382: 378: 368: 366: 348: 347: 343: 338: 300:" expounded by 290:frontier thesis 262:The Martian Way 259: 203: 139:science fiction 134:The Martian Way 67:Science fiction 19:The Martian Way 12: 11: 5: 750: 748: 740: 739: 734: 729: 724: 719: 714: 709: 699: 698: 692: 691: 689: 688: 681: 674: 667: 660: 653: 646: 639: 632: 625: 618: 611: 603: 600: 599: 588: 586: 585: 578: 571: 563: 554: 553: 551: 550: 543: 536: 529: 521: 518: 517: 506: 504: 503: 496: 489: 481: 475: 474: 463: 450: 449:External links 447: 444: 443: 428: 412:"Introduction" 399: 376: 340: 339: 337: 334: 319:claustrophilia 304:. 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Retrieved 363:the original 354: 344: 323: 283: 270:terraforming 266:McCarthy Era 261: 260: 251:Solar System 247: 243: 230: 227: 204: 201:Plot summary 195: 191: 182: 180: 173: 169:Robot Dreams 167: 166:(1973), and 161: 155: 149: 146:Isaac Asimov 133: 132: 131: 76: 73:Published in 37:Isaac Asimov 671:Anniversary 547:Sucker Bait 369:February 8, 311:melting pot 701:Categories 336:References 330:spacewalks 326:astronauts 217:, and the 187:H. L. Gold 103:Media type 89:Periodical 615:Nightfall 315:immigrant 257:Influence 241:to Mars. 116:Paperback 95:Publisher 636:The Deep 540:The Deep 351:"Saturn" 276:and the 274:McCarthy 160:(1955), 112:Hardback 108:Magazine 63:Genre(s) 53:Language 622:C-Chute 470:at the 438:74-2863 185:editor 142:novella 106:Print ( 57:English 43:Country 436:  426:  393:  235:Saturn 207:Phobos 183:Galaxy 114:& 33:Author 533:Youth 239:rings 215:Venus 137:is a 434:LCCN 424:ISBN 391:ISBN 371:2010 359:NASA 219:Moon 211:Mars 594:by 512:by 328:on 292:of 231:all 703:: 432:. 414:. 402:^ 357:. 353:. 253:. 225:. 213:, 110:, 687:" 683:" 680:" 676:" 673:" 669:" 666:" 662:" 659:" 655:" 652:" 648:" 645:" 641:" 638:" 634:" 631:" 627:" 624:" 620:" 617:" 613:" 610:" 606:" 582:e 575:t 568:v 549:" 545:" 542:" 538:" 535:" 531:" 528:" 524:" 500:e 493:t 486:v 440:. 373:. 118:)

Index


Isaac Asimov
United States
English
Science fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction
Periodical
Magazine
Hardback
Paperback
science fiction
novella
Isaac Asimov
Galaxy Science Fiction
The Martian Way and Other Stories
The Best of Isaac Asimov
Robot Dreams
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two
H. L. Gold
Phobos
Mars
Venus
Moon
reaction mass
Saturn
rings
Solar System
McCarthy Era
terraforming
McCarthy

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