Being one of the five planets visible to the naked eye, Mars has always fascinated humans – and since it is on occasion visibly red because of the iron oxide on its surface, it has long been associated with war and slaughter. The Babylonians called it Nergal for their god of death and pestilence, long before the Romans named it after their god of war. By the 17th century, astronomers were observing it by telescope and noting its polar caps. The first detailed maps of Mars were made in the late 19th century by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. He named its “seas” and “continents”, and noted “channels”, or canali, on its surface – which were actually an optical illusion.
Schiaparelli thought these were natural features, but as his assumptions were popularised, the “canals” of Mars were seen more literally, giving rise to waves of speculation and folklore about the possibility of intelligent life, and whole civilisations, on Mars. Nikola Tesla thought he had picked up signals from Mars. H.G. Wells published The War of the Worlds in 1898, in which Martians escape their dying planet to invade Earth. The astronomer Carl Sagan observed: “Mars has become a kind of mythic arena onto which we have projected our Earthly hopes and fears.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veteransUnder the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
-
'It may not be surprising that creative work is used without permission'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
5 simple items to help make your airplane seat more comfortableThe Week Recommends Gel cushions and inflatable travel pillows make a world of difference
-
Mars may have been habitable more recently than thoughtUnder the Radar A lot can happen in 200 million years
-
Why water on Mars is so significantThe Explainer Enough water has been found to cover the surface of the Red Planet – but there's a catch
-
Liquid water detected on Mars raises hopes of lifeSpeed Read A new study suggests huge amounts of water could be trapped beneath the surface of Mars
-
Nasa's 'strangest find': pure sulphur on MarsUnder the Radar Curiosity rover discovers elemental sulphur rocks, adding to 'growing evidence' of life-sustaining elements on Red Planet
-
This year's solar storms will help future Mars astronautsThe explainer Getting to the Red Planet requires planning and a whole lot of knowledge
-
How NASA is planning to get humans to MarsIn Depth The upcoming Artemis II mission is the first step in a long mission
-
Rolls-Royce gets £2.9m for ‘James Bond’ Moon projectSpeed Read British engineering giant tasked with creating a nuclear reactor to power a lunar base for scientists
-
Artemis 1: behind Nasa’s ‘Moon-to-Mars’ missionfeature US space agency forced to postpone launch that will eventually return humans to lunar surface
