As a science fiction writer, the planet Mars has always intrigued me. It is a new world full of vast plains, mineral wealth, and the possibility of humanity having a second planet to call home. The technology to go there is already here, it simply will take the inspiration and guts for us to get there, along with the courage to develop the red planet into a proper home.

I’ve written several short stories that take place on Mars and often times I use photos or stories from scientific journals as inspiration for my tales. I stumbled upon a series of full sized posters were developed to inspire new settlers to go to the red planet. The posters are available for free at NASA. They were originally commissioned for an exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex in 2009.  Below are smaller versions of my favorites. If you like the images, be sure to go to NASA and see them all. Download one or two for your walls. Maybe they will inspire you to write about Mars as I do, or even to go there one day yourself.

EXPLORERS WANTED ON THE JOURNEY TO MARS

Boasting the solar system’s biggest canyon, putting Earth’s Grand Canyon to shame, is Valles Marineris. There you can experience the blue sunsets while the twin moons, Phobos and Deimos, sail overhead. Can you imagine being one of the first people to explore such a glorious place? It would be breathtaking.

SURVEYORS WANTED TO EXPLORE MARS

Mars is covered by many robots that are measuring the planet and taking samples. Yet, once people arrive the land will need to be partitioned and sold to settlers much as it is here on Earth. Land will be designated as cities and townships. Acres set up for farms and mines. For this, surveyors will be needed. Much as George Washington, the first President of the United States, was a surveyor for the American colonies in his youth, people with these skills will also be needed on Mars. Could this be you?

TECHNICIANS WANTED TO ENGINEER OUR FUTURE ON MARS

One of the skill sets that will be needed on Mars at once are technicians. They will be needed to repair the machines that keep people alive in the hostile environment. They will be the ones working in the supply ships that will run between Mars, Earth, and the Moon. Such jobs should be in high demand. Will you be one of those people who go there to work your trade?

ASSEMBLY REQUIRED TO BUILD OUR FUTURE ON MARS

Machinists and mechanics will also be professions in high demand on Mars. Builders of homes, of factories, mines and more will pave the way for future immigrants to the red planet. Already, people in these fields are applying to go one way to Mars even today. They bank on their ability to build what they will need to survive on the red planet without having to return to Earth. It takes courage to face a life on a new world, much as settlers a few centuries ago faced one-way trips to the Americas from Europe.

NASA NEEDS YOU

Reminding us of the famous Uncle Sam poster of another era, this final image looks you right in the eye and asks if you have the courage and desire to reach for Mars. Could being a technician, teacher, builder or even a parent raising a child there be in your future?

I hope that you have found inspiration for your own stories with these fun images from NASA. That they inspire you to dream about a new world and what life there might be like. If these images help ferment a few new science fiction stories for you, as they have for me, all the better.