Discovery of Mars

Mars is much like Venus-- it's very bright and

therefore easily spotted in the night sky. Because of
This this, we don't know who exactly discovered Mars.
We do know it was named after the Roman god of
war, because its reddish color reminded people of
blood.

In 1659, Christian Huygens discovered a strange

feature on the surface of the Red Planet. It was later
called the Syrtis Major. We have been scared of
Martians ever since. In 1802, one scientist was so
convinced there was life on Mars that he wanted to
draw huge figures in the snow to signal the Martians!

image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. In 1877, astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli
Click on image for full size (30K JPG)
discovered what he believed to be several lines
Courtesy of NASA
crossing one another. He claimed they were water
canals made by intelligent creatures.

In 1971, Mariner 9 visited Mars and sent back images of enormous volcanoes and vast canyons. It discovered
Olympus Mons, now the most famous volcano not on Earth. This massive volcano could cover the state of
Missouri, and reaches 15 miles above the surface! Mariner 9 also found evidence that water once flowed on
Mars. However, there were no sightings of Schiaparelli's famous canals.

In 1975, two spacecraft named Viking I and II landed on Mars to study its surface. They analyzed the rocks
and soil of the planet while providing us with information about its atmosphere and weather patterns. Even
today we are exploring Mars. The Mars Global Surveyor made a map of the planet in 1997.

Although Mars was never really discovered, its moons were! In 1877, astronomer Asaph Hall spotted the two
moons and named them Phobos, which means fear, and Deimos, which means panic. They were named after
the mythical horses that drew the chariot of the Roman god, Mars.