Sands of Mars

Sands of Mars (Gnome Press, 1952) by Arthur C. Clarke.

A science fiction writer travels to Mars to write about life there. There are the obligatory travel scenes, with various incidents such as a meteor strike on the ship. However, Clarke manages to poke a bit of fun at many of the sequences by having the character be the writer (for example, he makes himself "space sick" by thinking about all the scenes he wrote describing that ailment). He explores Mars, and eventually falls in love with the planet and throws his lot in with the colonists. While Clarke depicts a Mars that never was (and eventually I'll write, I hope, another posting talking about the book in more detail), it is definately a work that inspired (and continues to inspire) many astronauts, astronomers and other scientists.