Phobos and Deimos in fiction Phobos and Deimos in fiction Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Due to their small size, both moons were discovered only in 1877, by astronomer Asaph Hall. Nevertheless, they frequently feature in works of science fiction. Some of the earliest mentions of Mars's moons in fiction predate their discovery. In Jonathan Swift's famous satire "Gulliver's Travels" (1726), the astronomers of flying island Laputa are described as having discovered two satellites of Mars. Voltaire's short story "Micromégas" (1752), about alien visitors from Sirius and Saturn, also describes Mars as having two moons. Voltaire is thought to have been influenced by
Flag of Mars "red Mars and two moons in blue field above a diagonal, white below". In Robert A. Heinlein's 1961 science-fiction novel "Stranger in a Strange Land", a flag of Mars is hastily improvised, consisting of "the field in white and the sigil of Mars in red". In The Expanse television series, based on "The Expanse" series of novels by James S. A. Corey, the Martian Congressional Republic is the governing body that rules over the inhabitants of Mars and is one of the two human superpowers in the series. Its flag is reminiscent of Mars and its two moons, Phobos and