Topic: Iron Stars timeline
We're assuming that it took the Martian cylinders about 3 months to get to Earth (the time between the opposition of February 1901 and the spring landings). It would probably take humans a bit longer to get there, at least at first.
Although this was my estimate when Iron Stars was first written, it may be somewhat incorrect. I'm such a geek, I think we can narrow this down further.
The clues:
BOOK ONE/CHAPTER ONE:
"During the opposition of 1894 a great light was seen on the illuminated part of the disk ... Peculiar markings, as yet unexplained, were seen near the site of that outbreak during the next two oppositions.
"The storm burst upon us six years ago now. As Mars approached opposition, Lavelle of Java set the wires of the astronomical exchange palpitating with the amazing intelligence of a huge outbreak of incandescent gas upon the planet."
...and...
BOOK TWO/CHAPTER 10:
"Seven months ago now, Venus and Mars were in alignment with the sun; that is to say, Mars was in opposition from the point of view of an observer on Venus."
Therefore:
(1) I read this to mean that the Invasion occurred following the third opposition from 1894, although it is possible it was after the second. These were in January 1899 and February 1901, respectively.
(2) It is stated explicitly that the Invasion was six years ago, from the viewpoint of the author. Further, Mars and Venus were in opposition "seven months ago". The three Mars-Venus oppositions after the start of 1905 were in May 1905, April 1906, and February 1907. These give possible authorship dates of December 1905, November 1906, and September 1907. Subtracting six years from each gives possible Invasion dates of December 1899, November 1900, and September 1901. Accounting for a three-month "rounding error" in the author's "six years" figure, we get ranges of:
(A) September 1899 through March 1900
(B) August 1900 through February 1901
(C) June through December 1901
Option (A) could be correct, although it is unlikely, as the opposition occurred eight months prior to the start of the indicated range, and while the text is not explicit, that seems too long of a gap between the observed launches on Mars and the landings.
Option (B) cannot be correct, as the Martian opposition only happened towards the very end of the indicated range.
That leaves option (C). The text states that the launches occurred as Mars "approached" opposition, so let's assume it was in late January or early February 1901. Further, while the text is not explicit about the time of year, it does say the landing occurred on a "warm night". This means earlier in the indicated range is more likely than later.
Therefore, I believe the Invasion happened during late July or early August of 1901, with a roughly six-month lapse from launch to landing.
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com
