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In early 2015, fare-paying passengers stepped aboard the first purpose-built interplanetary spaceliner to a fanfare of publicity which was to make the name of Martian Queen a household word. Representatives from every region of the World Community had gathered in the departure lounge of Miami Spaceport to take part in this historic inaugural flight to Mars. Speeches, toasts and a holographic presentation of the ship's development were beamed to every part of the globe, until eventually the crowd of passengers boarded the bus to take them across the apron to where the great ship lay.

Little of her could actually be seen as she was cocooned by sonic filter screens which also covered the launching ramp, but her size was staggeringly apparent. Finally the passengers were aboard and settled into their luxuriously appointed cabins. The sound of her engines became audible even through the screens, as she moved ponderously up the ramp, to emerge In a thunderous roar of engines at full thrust. Within minutes she was out of sight and a new era had begun.

The Martian Queen was the first of the Queen ships operated by Trans-Galactic Spacelines. A total of eight entered service, although five of these flew either as ships licenced to other spacelines or were commissioned for military use.
During this period private spacetravel was an expensive luxury and those fortunate enough to afford the experience expected value for money. The early Queen liners were correspondingly sumptuous, each interior being designed and built by world-renowned artists and craftsmen. However, as technology advanced and the demand for cheaper and more widely available services grew, so the Martian Queens became outdated and eventually were either withdrawn from service entirely or refitted for greater carrying capacity. Their successors, the Galaxy Queens, represented a very different breed of vessel and perhaps made a much greater contribution to interplanetary travel by bringing this facility to a for wider range of people than had previously been possible. families who had been transported it) the Martian Industrial Centres could now hope to we friends and relations they thought had been left behind on Earth for ever. In fact the new accessibility allowed the growth of the many secondary industries now to be found on Mars.

Nevertheless, the disappearance of the Martian Queens is to be regretted as it is unlikely that we shall ever see their kind again. Unfortunately, none of these majestic liners has survived, as even those which were refitted have long been withdrawn and dismantled. Some idea of what it must have been like to travel in them can be gained from visiting the First Class Dining Lounge at Miami Spaceport, which has been constructed as a replica of the Pleasure Deck of the last Martian Queen.

When standing there it is easy to Imagine the impact that momentous inaugural flight must have made on the crowds thronging the apron - particularly as among them them would have been many able to remember a time before Man had ever launched himself into Space.