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Mars: Our wonder in the Sky

We were always fascinated by Mars.
The Babilonians called it Nergal.
The Egyptians called it Har Decher (the red one).
The Greeks called it Ares after their god of War.
The Romans called it Mars.
~300 BC - Aristotle observed that Mars was farther from Earth than the Moon
1595 - Tycho Brahe Plots Mars Position in the Sky which is still acceptable today.

Although the telescope was invented in the 1600s, because of the Inquisition Science in the 1600s was hampered. Nonetheless some observations of Mars were made:
1609 - Galileo used a primitive telescope to observe Mars. He noticed phases of Mars.
1658 - Christiaan Huygens with a better telescope notice that a dark spot return to the same position every 24 hour (apprx).
1669 - Giovanni Cassinni (1666) determined that the dark spot returns to the same position every 24h, 40m.. Hence the Martian day is born!

Scientists in the 1700s enjoyed a much greater degree of freedom. Sir William Herschel(1738 - 1822) was a major innovator in the world of telescopes. With better telescopes, scientists of the 1700s paved the way for future Mars research. These telescopes allowed the discovery of the Martian polar ice caps, and many significant features of the Martian terrain and its atmosphere. Hundreds of years later, many of the results from the 1700s have been corroborated by experimental evidence.

1809 - Yellow Clouds observed on Mars.
1877 - Schiaparelli Produces Map of Mars with Canali.
1877 - Asaph Hall Discovers Moons of Mars Phobos & Deimos.
1894 - Lowell Observatory Established to Study Mars.

During the 1900s the numerous scientific discoveries helped us get into the

Computers & Robotics Era. Mariner mission - Nov/28/1964 Mariner 4 was launched and 228 days later it was the first ever to visit the red planet. Three more succesfull missions Mariner 6,7,9 followed.
Viking mission - Our first landing on another planet.
Pathfinder - On July 4th 1997 gave us the best show for our tax money!
Martian Global Surveyor - Has completed more than 1300 days in orbit and still going strong.
2001 Mars Odyssey - Is on its way to Mars Now.

Editor's Corner

MARS: A FASCINATING NEW FRONTIER
For hundreds of years our observation of Mars were restricted by the vast distance separating Earth from the red planet. About once every two years, at its closest approach, Mars passes within 55 million kilometers of Earth and it is then that we are able to capture pictures of maximum resolution with earth-based telescopes. The Hubble Space Telescope now provides us with excellent views from earth-orbit, but until the launching of probes to Mars to collect and relay data back to Earth, much of what was "known" about Mars was based on fuzzy pictures which showed only large scale planetary features and events.

Some of the earth-based observations were: orbital and rotational dynamics, atmospheric phenomena, seasonal variations in the polar caps, variations in surface color (which were explained by theories ranging from the presence of vegetation, to water bodies linked by martian-made canals, to variations in surface composition); all of which resulted in a variety of interpretations. Atmospheric pressure and composition, as well as surface temperature, was studied using spectroscopy, but there was much debate about the varied results obtained by different studies.

The earth-based observations of Mars paved the way for spacecraft exploration of the planet. So many questions had been raised about Mars and there were so few answers. Did life exist on Mars? Was water present on the planet? If so, what form was it in? What was the atmosphere composed of and what were its dynamics? Could Mars be used to tell us more about the evolution of both Earth and our solar system? These were some of the questions which captured the imaginations of scientists from many disciplines, and the answers could only be found by direct observation. Fueled by the curiosities of both the scientific community and the public, on November 28, 1964 @ 9:22 EST Mariner 4 was launched and 228 days later it would become the first spacecraft ever to visit the red planet. Since then, there have been several successful NASA missions to Mars. Four Mariner Missions, two Viking Missions, one Mars Pathfinder and one Mars Global Surveyor. As recently as last month, the 2001 Mars Odyssey was launched on April 7, 2001.

If you dream of going to Mars, the red planet is not for the faint-hearted. Arid, rocky, cold and apparently lifeless, Mars offers few hospitalities. Home to the largest volcano in the solar system, the deepest canyon and crazy weather and temperature patterns, Mars looms as the ultimate lonely planet destination.

James C. Stathis
Associate Editor