Phobos and Deimos in fiction
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Phobos and Deimos, the two moons of Mars, are locations frequently mentioned in works of science fiction.
[edit] Phobos
- In part 3 chapter 3 (the "Voyage to Laputa") of Jonathan Swift's famous satire Gulliver's Travels, a fictional work written in 1726, the astronomers of Laputa are described as having discovered two satellites of Mars. (See Phobos for a fuller discussion).
- In Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom novels, Phobos is known by the name of Thuria, and is described as "a great and glorious orb, swinging swift across the vaulted dome of the blue-black night, so low that she seemed to graze the hills" (The Chessmen of Mars). John Carter of Mars visits a miniature civilization on Thuria in the novel Swords of Mars.
- The first episode of the computer and video game Doom takes place in a UAC base on Phobos.
- Phobos also featured in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy as having a base built by the first colonists to Mars. Later the moon is overtaken by multinational forces and is de-orbited by the Martian rebels.
- Phobos is the final mission in the video game Armored Core 2 where the player must battle to the center to destroy the orbit control mechanism and prevent it from crashing into Mars and destroying the newly formed Martian civilization.
- In Greg Bear's Moving Mars, quantum computers allow the Martian colonists to teleport Phobos and Deimos above Earth, and this threat forces the Earth military to stand down from its confrontation with Mars.
- The video games Unreal Tournament and Unreal Tournament 2004 contain a deathmatch arena located on a satellite base of Phobos.
- Phobos is the name of a playable character in the computer game, Quake 3 Arena
- Parts of Leather Goddesses of Phobos, the interactive fiction game from Infocom, take place in fanciful interpretations of the environments of Phobos and Mars.
- Phobos is referenced in Steve Alten's Resurrection and is the title to the upcoming third book in his Domain trilogy. The idea of Phobos being a hollow object will play a big part in the book, going so far as to say it's is a space ship.
- In the Noon Universe, Phobos is discovered to be an artificial satellite, most likely, built by the Wanderers.
[edit] Deimos
- In Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom novels, Deimos is known by the name of Cluros, and is described as "stately, majestic, almost stationary, shedding his steady light upon the world below" (The Chessmen of Mars).
- Kim Stanley Robinson's Green Mars (1993) includes a detailed description of a manned landing on Deimos.
- The second episode of the Computer and video game Doom takes place in a UAC base on Deimos. Before the beginning of the game, Deimos disappears from Martian orbit, and is reached by the unnamed Marine after he steps into a large teleporter on Phobos. Eventually, it is discovered that Deimos is floating above Hell itself.
- The UESC Marathon of the Marathon computer game series is a hollowed-out Deimos.
- A hollowed-out Deimos is also featured in the Zone of the Enders saga of games and anime. In the series - notably the Idolo OVA - the moon serves as a linear catapult facility for launching vehicles in Mars orbit to Earth, and possibly to the Jupiter colonies as well.
- Like Phobos, Deimos is discovered to be an artificial satellite in the Noon Universe, likely, built by the Wanderers.
- In an episode of the 2003 Astro Boy series, "Destination Deimos", as the episode title suggests, Dr. O'Shay went to Deimos.
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