What will the first words spoken on Mars be? Can anything top Niel Armstrongs famous words from the Moon?

This very short simply follows the astronaut that is going to be the first human to set foot in Mars and his struggle with finding out what his first words will be. There is nothing more to it than that, but it effectively portrays a believable scenario showing all the doubts the first human on Mars will likely have in that situation. Suffice to say, the story does end with the first words spoken on Mars - some may find it fitting and others disappointing.

Read in Analog July/August 2023
Rating: 3