Red, green, and blue are the colors that the first astronauts to Mars might plant there. The three colors were chosen recently by the Mars Society for its first Martian flag. The Mars Society is a group of scientists and laypeople whose goal is promoting the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet.
The three colors symbolize the transformation of Mars from a dry, red planet to one rich in life. Such a transformation occurs in a popular series of science fiction novels– Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars–by the prizewinning author Kim Stanley Robinson.
Late last December, the new Martian tricolor traveled a short way toward its eventual home. NASA astronaut John Mace Grunsfeld took the flag with him on the space shuttle Discovery during its Christmas repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
