I occasionally remember snippets of old games I played eons ago and just can't remember more than bits and pieces, especially the titles.

There was this steam punk-ish game, set in Victorian England, where you led a group of British adventurers to various planets throughout the solar system. The ships were wooden, and operated on the principle of hot air balloons (or perhaps helium balloons) to reach other planets. It was an RPG, came out in the late 1980's....and that's about all I can remember

Can anyone else figure out this game?

Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams?

Thanks Tikeno, but I finally sussed it out: Space 1889! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_1889)

Both Space 1889 and Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2 should be GoGs!

RPG sci-fi which plays on themes from the old 60's-70's TV show Space 1999!. Kind of HG Wells meets Rudyard Kipling with a dash of Ray Bradbury to boot. It was based off a tabletop RPG from a company that may (?) have gone bust. THe major colonial powers of the late 19th century have colonized Venus, Mars, and parts of the moon. British Raj vs. the martian Chronicles with insectoids and stuff. I think most of the gameplay takes place on Mars, but I don't completely remember.