Mysterious Mars

Mysterious Mars

Introduction Long ago, ancient people saw a bright red light in the sky. The Romans named this red light Mars, after their god of war. The name stuck, and we still use it today for the fourth planet in our solar system.

Gazing from Afar Ancient astronomers wondered what made Mars red. Astronomers in the 1800s studied the planet through early telescopes. They found that Mars had polar ice caps just as Earth did. Parts of Mars were also covered with long lines that looked like a web of waterways.

An Italian astronomer who discovered these lines in 1877 called them channels. Channels are natural waterways. People thought the astronomer said he saw canals. Canals are waterways built by people. The mix-up led people to believe that intelligent beings built canals on Mars! Were the channels on Mars really canals? Had they held water? And why was Mars red? Scientists had many questions about the planet.

Taking a Closer Look In the 1960s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began the Mariner missions to answer these questions. The Mariner 4 spacecraft traveled to Mars to take close-up pictures. The pictures showed that the “ canals" were canyons.

The Mariner 9 spacecraft showed that Mars had valleys and volcanoes. One of the volcanoes is the largest on any planet in our solar system. It is 26 kilometers (16 mi. ) high and 500 kilometers (311 mi. ) wide at its base. That's three times as tall as Mount Everest!