The Solar System

Solar System

The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...

and its various bodies (planet

Planet

A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...

s, asteroid

Asteroid

Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

s, moon

Natural satellite

A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....

s, etc.) were the earliest objects to be treated as fictional locations in works of science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

. Among these, imaginary voyages to and explorations of Earth's Moon

Moon in art and literature

The Moon has been the subject of many works of art and literature and the inspiration for countless others. It is a motif in the visual arts, the performing arts, poetry, prose and music.-Literary:...

 are found in seventeenth century literature. By the early twentieth century, following the increase in scientific

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

 and technological

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

 development spurred by the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

, fictional journeys to (or from) the Solar System's other planets had become common in fiction.

Early literature regarding the Solar System, following scientific speculations dating back to the 17th century, assumed that every planet hosted its own native life forms—often assumed to be human in form, if not in attitudes. Later literature began to accept that there were limits set by temperature, gravity, atmospheric pressure and composition, or the presence of liquids that would set bounds on the possibility of life as we know it existing on other planets. By the 19th century the Moon was given up as an airless desert, incapable of supporting life on its surface (hopes for subsurface life continued until later). Jupiter and the planets beyond were too large, too cold, and had atmospheres composed of poisonous chemicals. Mercury was too close to the Sun and its surface was exposed to extremes of temperature. The asteroids were too tiny and airless. By the early 20th century, prospects for life in the Solar System focused on Venus, the larger moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and especially Mars.

With the onset of the Space Age

Space Age

The Space Age is a time period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events. The Space Age is generally considered to have begun with Sputnik...

, planetary probes cast increasing doubt on the likelihood of extraterrestrial life

Extraterrestrial life

Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...

 in the Solar System, at least life of any magnitude greater than organism

Organism

In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole.An organism may either be unicellular or, as in the case of humans, comprise...

s such as bacteria

Bacteria

Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...

. By the mid-1960s, it was firmly established that life could have no foothold on the hostile surfaces of Mercury or Venus, and that Mars could hardly support any macroscopic life forms on its surface, much less an advanced civilization. In the 1980s it was shown that the surfaces of Jupiter's moons were just as hostile to life.
More recent fiction focused on the Solar System has thus tended to address its exploration for purposes such as terraforming

Terraforming

Terraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...

, the engineering of planets for human habitation, than the possibility of any existing life.

Specific articles

Most of the major bodies of the Solar System have articles concerning their use as settings for fiction:

Works

The following works or series use multiple planets and other locations within the Solar System as their primary settings:

Adult

Name	Dates	Author
A Honeymoon in Space	1901	George Griffith George Griffith George Griffith , full name George Chetwyn Griffith-Jones, was a prolific British science fiction writer and noted explorer who wrote during the late Victorian and Edwardian age. Many of his visionary tales appeared in magazines such as Pearson's Magazine and Pearson's Weekly before being published...
Northwest Smith Northwest Smith Northwest Smith is a fictional character, and the hero of a series of stories by science fiction writer C. L. Moore.- Story setting :Smith is a spaceship pilot and smuggler who lives in an undisclosed future time when humanity has colonized the solar system....	1933–1936	C. L. Moore C. L. Moore Catherine Lucille Moore was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, as C. L. Moore. She was one of the first women to write in the genre, and paved the way for many other female writers in speculative fiction....
Planetary series Planetary series The Planetary series of stories by Stanley G. Weinbaum is series of short stories, published in Wonder Stories and Astounding Stories in the 1930s, which are set upon various planets and moons of the Solar System....	1934–1936	Stanley G. Weinbaum Stanley G. Weinbaum Stanley Grauman Weinbaum was an American science fiction author. His career in science fiction was short but influential...
Space Trilogy Space Trilogy The Space Trilogy, Cosmic Trilogy or Ransom Trilogy is a trilogy of science fiction novels by C. S. Lewis, famous for his later series The Chronicles of Narnia. A philologist named Elwin Ransom is the hero of the first two novels and an important character in the third.The books in the trilogy...	1938–1943	C. S. Lewis C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
Spacehounds of IPC Spacehounds of IPC Spacehounds of IPC is a science fiction novel by author Edward E. Smith, Ph.D.. It was first published in book form in 1947 by Fantasy Press in an edition of 2,008 copies. It was the first book published by Fantasy Press. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine Amazing Stories in 1931...	1947	E. E. Smith E. E. Smith Edward Elmer Smith, Ph.D., also, E. E. Smith, E. E. "Doc" Smith, Doc Smith, "Skylark" Smith, and Ted was a food engineer and early science fiction author who wrote the Lensman series and the Skylark series, among others...
Leigh Brackett Solar System Leigh Brackett Solar System The Leigh Brackett Solar System is a fictional analogue to the real-world Solar System in which a majority of the planetary romances of Leigh Brackett take place....	1940–1964	Leigh Brackett Leigh Brackett Leigh Douglass Brackett was an American author, particularly of science fiction. She was also a screenwriter, known for her work on famous films such as The Big Sleep , Rio Bravo , The Long Goodbye and The Empire Strikes Back .-Life:Leigh Brackett was born and grew up in Los Angeles, California...
Space Odyssey The Space Odyssey series The Space Odyssey series is a science fiction series of four novels and two films created from 1968 to 1997, primarily by the writer Arthur C. Clarke...	1948–1997	Arthur C. Clarke Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
The Rama Series Rendezvous with Rama Rendezvous with Rama is a novel by Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1972. Set in the 22nd century, the story involves a cylindrical alien starship that enters Earth's solar system...	1972–1993	Arthur C. Clarke Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
Eight Worlds Eight Worlds Eight Worlds refers to a series of novels and short stories by John Varley, in which the solar system has been colonized by human refugees fleeing an alien invasion of the Earth. Earth and Jupiter are off-limits to humanity, but Earth's moon and the other worlds and moons of the solar system have...	1974–1985	John Varley John Varley (author) John Herbert Varley is an American science fiction author.-Biography:Varley grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, moved to Port Arthur in 1957, and graduated from Nederland High School. He went to Michigan State University on a National Merit Scholarship because, of the schools that he could afford, it...
Shaper/Mechanist Shaper/Mechanist The Shaper/Mechanist universe is the setting for a series of science fiction short stories written by the author Bruce Sterling. The stories combined cover approximately 350 years of future history, for the period ranging from AD 2200-2550...	1982–1985	Bruce Sterling Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which helped define the cyberpunk genre.-Writings:...
Grand Tour Grand Tour (novel series) -Summary:The novels present a theme of exploration and colonization of the solar system by humans in the late 21st century. Most of the books focus on the exploration of one particular planet or planetary moon....	1993–present	Ben Bova Ben Bova Benjamin William Bova is an American science-fiction author and editor. He is the recipient of six Hugo Awards for Best Professional Editor for his work at Analog Science Fiction in the 1970's.-Personal life:...

Juvenile

Name	Dates	Author
Captain Future Captain Future Captain Future is a science fictional hero pulp character originally published in self-titled American pulp magazines during the 1940s and early 50s.-Origins:...	1940–1951	Edmond Hamilton Edmond Hamilton Edmond Moore Hamilton was an American author of science fiction stories and novels during the mid-twentieth century. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania...
Heinlein juveniles Heinlein juveniles "Heinlein juveniles" are the 12 novels written by Robert A. Heinlein and published by Scribner's between 1947 and 1958. The intended readership was teenage boys, but the books have been enjoyed by a wide range of readers...  (first six)	1947–1952	Robert A. Heinlein Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
Lucky Starr series Lucky Starr series Lucky Starr is the hero of a series of science fiction books by Isaac Asimov, using the pen name "Paul French". Intended for juveniles, the books were written in the middle of the Cold War and the series shows traces of this, both in educational intent and in the nature of the social forces involved...	1952–1958	Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of Tom Corbett — Space Cadet stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, coloring books, punch-out books and View-Master reels in the 1950s....  series	1952–1956	Cary Rockwell (pseud.)
Dig Allen Space Explorer series	1959–1962	Joseph Greene

Comics and animation

• The Dan Dare
  Dan Dare
  Dan Dare is a British science fiction comic hero, created by illustrator Frank Hampson who also wrote the first stories, that is, the Venus and Red Moon stories, and a complete storyline for Operation Saturn...
  
   comics series (first five stories, 1950–1955)
• The Cowboy Bebop
  Cowboy Bebop
  is a critically acclaimed and award-winning 1998 Japanese anime series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto, and produced by Sunrise. Its 26 episodes comprise a complete storyline: set in 2071, the series follows the adventures, misadventures and tragedies of five bounty...
  
   comics, animated television series and film (1998–2001) by Hajime Yatate
  Hajime Yatate
  is a pseudonym for the collective contributions of the Sunrise animation staff.-Name:"Hajime Yatate" is considered named after a quote of Matsuo Bashō's Oku no Hosomichi:-Credited series:...
  
  
• The Exosquad
  Exosquad
  Exosquad is an American animated television series created by Universal Cartoon Studios as a response to Japanese anime. The show is set in the beginning of the 22nd century and covers the interplanetary war between humanity and Neosapiens, a fictional race artificially created as workers/slaves...
  
   animated television series (see Exosquad planets
  Exosquad planets
  The 1993-1995 sci-fi animated television series Exosquad featured a number of planets, most of them being terraformed or alternate versions of real planets of the Solar System, although some were definitively fictional...
  
  ) (1993–1995)

Film, radio and television

• The Space Patrol radio and live action television programs (1950–1955)
• The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
  Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
  Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of Tom Corbett — Space Cadet stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, coloring books, punch-out books and View-Master reels in the 1950s....
  
   radio and television programs (1950–1955)
• Space Patrol
  Space Patrol (1962 TV series)
  Space Patrol is a science-fiction television series featuring marionettes that was produced in the United Kingdom in 1962. It was written and produced by Roberta Leigh in association with the Associated British Corporation.-Summary:...
  
  , the puppet television program (1962)
• Defying Gravity
  Defying Gravity (TV series)
  Defying Gravity is a multi-nationally produced space travel television science fiction drama series, first aired on August 2, 2009 on ABC and CTV and canceled in the autumn of 2009...
  
  , television program (2009)

Games

Name	Date	Developer
Triplanetary Triplanetary Triplanetary was a science fiction board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop in 1973. It was a simulation of space combat within the solar system in the early 21st Century. The game was designed by Marc W. Miller as part of a series to be named "The Stars! The Stars!". A second edition of...	1973	Game Designers' Workshop Game Designers' Workshop Game Designers' Workshop was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers.-History:Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973...
Buck Rogers XXVC Buck Rogers XXVC Buck Rogers XXVC is a game setting created by TSR, Inc. in the late 1980s. Products based on this setting include novels, graphic novels, a role-playing game , board game, and video games...	1988	TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
Space: 1889 Space: 1889 Space: 1889 is a role-playing game of Victorian-era space-faring,created by Frank Chadwick and originally published by Game Designers' Workshop from 1988 to 1991 and later reprinted by Heliograph, Inc...	1988	Game Designers' Workshop Game Designers' Workshop Game Designers' Workshop was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers.-History:Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973...
Jovian Chronicles Jovian Chronicles Jovian Chronicles is a science fiction game setting published by Dream Pod 9 since 1992. It introduces a complete universe for role-playing and wargaming space combat, featuring mecha, giant spacecraft and epic space battles....	1992	Dream Pod 9 Dream Pod 9 Dream Pod 9 is a Montreal-based Canadian game publisher. In addition to games, they have been known to work on special projects, creating worlds and stories to order for a variety of clients.-History:...
Mutant Chronicles Mutant Chronicles Mutant Chronicles is a pen-and-paper role-playing game set in a post-apocalyptic world, originally published in 1993. It has spawned a franchise of collectible card games, miniature wargames, video games, novels, comic books, and a film of the same title based on the game world.Mutant Chronicles...	1993	Target Games Target Games Target Games was a Swedish publisher of role-playing games active from 1980 until the year 1999 when they went into bankruptcy proceedings.-Publications:...
GURPS Terradyne campaign	1995	Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
Transhuman Space Transhuman Space Transhuman Space is a role-playing game published by Steve Jackson Games as parts of the "Powered by GURPS" line. Set in the year 2100, humanity has begun to colonize the Solar System...	2002	Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
Rocketmen Rocketmen Rocketmen was constructible strategy game produced by WizKids and released in 2005 and discontinued in 2006. Part of its marketing included animated adventures based on the character of Nick Sion, a rebel and adventurer facing the evil alliance of Terra and Mars.Recently announced by Capcom,...	2005	Wizkids WizKids WizKids, Inc. is an American New Jersey-based company that first made its mark in the game industry producing collectible miniatures wargames. WizKids was purchased by and is a subsidiary of National Entertainment Collectibles Association. The company was founded in 2000 by Jordan Weisman, a...
Eclipse Phase Eclipse Phase (role-playing game) Eclipse Phase is a science fiction horror role-playing game with transhumanist themes. Futurist Anders Sandberg noted its difference from GURPS Transhuman Space was its emphasis on posthuman characters...	2009	Catalyst Game Labs Catalyst Game Labs Catalyst Game Labs was created in May 2007 by InMediaRes Productions, LLC for the purpose of publishing print Classic BattleTech and Shadowrun sourcebooks...