Science in black Missions in red Fiction in brown Movies/TV in gray Music in blue Public Advocacy in orange Martians in green Communicating with Mars in purple
by A. J. S. Rayl
Jump to: 1700s - 1800s - 1900s - First movie - First mission - 2003
300 BC
The Greek philospher Artistotle (384-322 BC) observes that the Moon occults (passes in front of) Mars. He then concludes that Mars must be higher up in the heavens.
1580-1600
Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) determines the position of Mars in the night sky by taking the most detailed measurements of the planet to date. Although the telescope has yet to be invented, Brahe is able to plot the Red Planet by utilizing instruments that accurately determine the position of objects in the night sky from the Uraniborg observatory he directed. Mars is closer to us than it has been for thousands of years! Learn how to observe it at our Marswatch 2003 site. Image: Hubble
1609
German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), who had worked as an assistant to Tycho Brahe, publishes his first two laws of planetary motion in his book Astronomia Nova... Commentaries on the Motions of Mars {The New Astronomy}, and explains the complexities of Mars's retrograde motion. The orbit of each planet is an ellipse, he hypothesizes, with the Sun at one of its foci. And, each planet will sweep out equal areas in equal time. Kepler's discovery is made possible largely through his use of Brahe's highly accurate measurements of Mars' position in the night sky.
1608-1610
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), professor at the University of Padua in Venice, becomes the first human to observe Mars through a telescope.
Dec. 30, 1610
Galileo notes the phases of Mars, writing in a letter to a friend that "I dare not affirm that I was able to observe the phases of Mars; nevertheless, if I am not mistaken, I believe that I have seen that it is not perfectly round."
1619
Johannes Kepler uses data on Mars' orbit to discover his third law of planetary motion -- the square of the orbital period is proportional to the cube of the body's mean distance from the Sun -- which he publishes in Harmonice mundi (The Harmony of the Worlds).
1636
Amateur astronomer Francisco Fontana of Naples, Italy, makes the earliest known drawing of Mars based on his telescopic observations, noting that "the disk of Mars is not uniform in color."
1659
Dutch mathematician and astronomer Christiaan (1629-1695) draws the first informative sketches of Mars that show major surface features, including Syrtis Major.
1666
Astronomer Giovanni Cassini (1625-1712) makes more precise measurements of Mars, calculating the length of the Martian day to be just under 24 hours 40 minutes, almost 37.5 minutes longer than Earth's. {Remarkably, this is within three minutes of its actual rotation time.} He is also credited with the discovery and identification of the polar caps on Mars, which will not be described any more fully until Giacomo Miraldi's work in 1719. {The caps are not understood to be made of ice until 1781.}
1672
Christiaan Huygens draws an image of Mars and its southern polar cap.
Gian Cassini, from France, and Jean Richer, in South America, combine their measurements of Mars to help them determe the distance from the Earth to Mars. This measurement is then later used to help determine the size of the Astronomical Unit. {1 AU is the mean distance from the Earth the Sun at approximately 150 million kilometers (93 million miles)}.
1698
Christaan Huygens in his posthumously published Cosmotheros argues that planets in the solar system are inhabited, igniting a debate that extends into the 20th Century.
1719
Giacomo Miraldi further describes the polar caps on Mars.
1760
Johnathan Swift describes Mars as having two moons in Gulliver's Travels.
1781
The British astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822) -- who had discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 -- discovers that the inclination of Mars's axis of rotation is approximately 24 degrees.
1784
German-born British astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822) describes the melting of the Martian polar caps, suggesting they may be made of ice or snow, and concluding that the planet has a thin atmosphere, but an Earth-like environment. His reputation, along with his findings, fuels the idea that a Martian civilization must exist. Herschel determines the length of the Martian day as 24 hours, 39 minutes and 22 seconds, just 14 seconds below the currently accepted value.
1809
Honore Falaugergues (1755-1835) is often credited as being the first to observe the yellow dust clouds on Mars, although others say that his telescope was too small to reliably see these features.
Circa 1820
German mathematician-astronomer Karl Gauss (1777-1855) proposes communicating with the Martians by planting wide parallel strips of pine trees in Siberia to enclose a huge right-angled triangle. With wheat growing inside the triangle to contrast with the green of the trees in summer, and snow inside during winter that would stand out from the trees, the right angle triangle, he contends, would be easily visible from Mars. Anticipating a probable language barrier, Gauss' concept is to demonstrate human knowledge of Pythagorean theorem to the Martians - or, in other words, to communicate via the universal language of mathematics and reveal Earthling intelligence.
1840
Astronomer Joseph von Littrow, director of the Vienna Observatory, suggests that perhaps the best way to get the Martians' attention is by digging a 24-mile wide circular ditch in the Saharan Desert, then filling it with water, pouring kerosene on top and lighting it to signal Earthlings' presence. Other large ditches, carved out in the forms of squares or triangles, could also be ignited as a way of indicating intelligence on Earth.
1840
German astronomers Wilhelm Beer and Johann von Madler produce a detailed map of Mars. The map is simplistic, revealing no true features, however Beer and Madler establish a Martian longitude and latitude system similar to Earth's. {Note: There is some confusion about the exact date -- some scholars use a decadal date of the 1830's or 1840s, while others give the more specific date of 1840.}
1864
Amateur astronomer Reverend William Dawes publishes a much-improved map of the Martian surface.
1867
British astronomer-journalist Richard Proctor attempts to name all the bright and dark markings that have been observed on Mars, naming at least six of them after Reverend William Dawes.
1869
French poet and inventor Charles Cros (1842-1888), who is credited with being the first to suggest a feasible plan for mechanically reproducing speech, proffers the idea of constructing a huge mirror to focus sunlight and burn out simple numbers on the desert sands of Mars. Another plan proposes establishing a network of mirrors in selected European cities arranged to 'beam' the configuration of the Big Dipper to Martians.
Image: Phobos
Image: Deimos
1877
American astronomer Asaph Hall observes two tiny moons orbiting Mars. He names them Phobos (the Greek word for 'fear') and Deimos ('panic') after the two horses that pulled the chariot of Mars, the Greek god of war.
1877-1878
Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, during his directorship of the Brera Observatory in Milan (1862-1900), observes a series of geometric patterns on the surface of Mars that he dubs 'canali' (Italian for 'channels'). Once his observations are published in Astronomical and Physical Observations of … the Planet Mars, First Memoir, 1877-78, the word 'canali' is misinterpreted to mean 'canals' and the markings are assumed to be artificial waterways and not natural channels.
1880s
The belief that Mars is inhabited becomes the conventional wisdom of the day.
1880
Across the Zodiac: The Story of a Wrecked Record, by Percy Greg is published. It is the first science fiction novel set on the Red Planet and the first literary trip to Mars.
1887-'91
Mars is at opposition and astronomers around the world increase observations.
Giovanni Schiaparelli prepares a set of very detailed maps of Mars during its opposition. He bases his observations and subsequent naming of locations on the assumption that the lighter areas are land, and the darker areas are seas and oceans.
1890
Uranie, a fantasy by French astronomer Nicolas Camille Flammarion (1842-1925) is published, exploiting a contemporary fad in literature of depicting spiritual reincarnation on Mars.
Plunge into Space, a science fiction novel by Robert Cromie (1856-1907) is published. This Northern Irish writer and journalist garners the praise and plaudits of Jules Verne with this tale about a crew of Earthling space farers. In this book appears the only Foreword that the inimitable Verne will ever write.
1892
The Planet Mars by Camille Flammarion is published. This textbook is a survey of all observations of the planet from the 1600s to 1892.
1893
A Parallel Unveiled: A Romance, a science fiction novel by Alice Ilgenfrizt Jones and Ella Merchant, is published. It offers up a new spin, depicting Mars as the site of a feminist utopia.
1894-1895
Mars is once again at opposition. During this time of its being positioned particularly close to Earth, observations increase and discussions about the possible Martian civilization ensue.
1894
Amateur astronomer Percival Lowell (1855-1916), heir to a family textile fortune, establishes the Lowell Observatory atop Mars Hill, in Flagstaff, Arizona. His primary purpose is to study the Red Planet, and particularly to photograph the Martian 'canali' during the 1894-1895 opposition. Viewing the surface through a 24-inch telescope, he produces the first intricate drawings of the planet, demarcating hundreds of straight lines and intersections he defines as "oases." He will observe and study the planet intensely for some 15 years, to become one of the best-known observers of Mars. He published his views in three books. (See below). {Note: The Lowell Observatory remains one of the largest privately operated, non-profit astronomical research observatories in the world.}
Astronomer W. W. Campbell, studying Mars at the Lick Observatory, fails to detect water in the Martian atmosphere, stirring debate.
Journey to Mars; The Wonderful World: Its Beauty and Splendor; Its Mighty Races and Kingdoms; Its Final Doom, a science fiction novel by Gustavus Pope, is published.
1895
Mars by Percival Lowell is published. Lowell's observations of the Red Planet lead him to conclude that the bright areas he is observing are deserts, while the dark areas are patches of vegetation. He hypothesizes that water from the melting polar cap flows down the canals toward the equatorial region to revive the vegetation.
American physicist/poet Robert Wood puts forward yet another idea on how to get the Martians to notice us by proposing we 'wink' at Mars by placing giant black cloths across white alkali plains; Sir Francis Galton counters with his concept of utilizing a Morse-like code to transmit coordinates of a picture of Mars.
1896
April 4. H.G. Wells' speculative science article, "Intelligence on Mars," is published in Saturday Review. The work is based on Wells' belief that that evolution on Mars may have paralleled that on Earth and that the Red Planet features lands and oceans, continents and islands, mountain ranges and inland seas.
Daybreak: A Romance of an Old World, a science fiction novel by James Cowan, is published.
1897
On Two Planets, a science fiction novel by Kurd Lasswitz, is published. It describes
scientifically advanced Martians landing on Earth and becomes a bestseller in Europe.
War of the Worlds, a science fiction novel by H.G. Wells, is serialized in Cosmopolitan.
An interplanetary war story, it details frightening, machine-like and ruthless Martians who invade Earth. Written in a semi-documentary style, it becomes immediately popular.
1898
H.G. Wells' book War of the Worlds
Percival Lowell becomes a major presence on the lecture circuit and the belief that Martians exist grows among the masses as it declines among biologists.
H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds is published in book form and becomes a prototype for future science fiction novels. The work -- which is heralded by some critics for its realistic depiction of a Martian invasion -- initiates a trend of using science fiction to explore social, political and ecological issues of European colonialism.
"Edison's Conquest of Mars," a science fiction series by Garrett Serviss, begins appearing in New York newspapers.
1899
Learn more about SETI - Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - and its growing popularity Genius inventor and electrical pioneer Nikola Tesla receives what he claims are "messages" from Mars through receiving equipment he set up in his laboratory in Pike's Peak, Colorado to "talk to the planets." With his gear -- comprised of a large primary coil, 23 meters in diameter, and a one-meter copper ball mounted on top of a 60-meter mast -- he sends powerful alternating currents of electricity into the copper ball and into the ground, believing that the magnetic field of the Earth will increase the power of the signal, but he is unable to detect any extraterrestrial response. Later, he claims to pick up interplanetary signals directed by intelligent control. Although it is later shown that the signals he heard were, in all probability, pulsars, Tesla's attempts to "talk with the planets" serve as a precursor to the SETI - the search for extraterrestrial intelligence via radio astronomy.
1906
Mars and Its Canals, the second in Percival Lowell's Martian trilogy, is published. He theorizes that the canals were constructed by intelligent beings who once flourished on Mars. Various scholars and scientists question those conclusions, but the public by and large buys it hook, line and sinker.
1905
38 Martian canals are photographed from the Lowell Observatory by C.O. Lampland. Lampland recieves an award from the British Royal Photographic Society in 1909.
Alfred Russel Wallace Part of The Planetary Society's Education-Related Links for Teachers and Students. 1907
The English scientist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 - 1913) proposes that the craters observed on Mars were created by the impact of meteors
1908
Mars As the Abode of Life, the last in the Martian trilogy by Percival Lowell, is published. Lowell's books are not only popular, they influence a number of writers of the day, not the least of which is H. G. Wells.
1910
A Trip to Mars, a four-minute, black and white film produced by Thomas Edison, is the first "movie" with Mars at the center of its storyline. A famous professor discovers that when he mixes two magical powders he has the power to reverse gravity. As he tests the concoction, some of the powder falls on him, and he is lifted up, flying through the sky until he finally falls down on the surface of Mars. He escapes some gnarly-limbed trees only to fall over a ridge and land on the lip of a giant Martian. The giant exhales and blow the professor into the air, then catches him, again and again, at which point the professor is transformed into a snowball that expands, explodes and propels the professor back to Earth. After crash landing back in his laboratory, the professor tries to destroy the powder only to wind up combining them again. The final shot shows the professor sitting on the floor of his chaotically spinning laboratory.
1912
"Under the Moons of Mars," a science fiction adventure, by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950), is published in All Story magazine. Financially challenged and inspired by the theories of astronomer Percival Lowell, Burroughs began writing this, his first, story in 1911, and sold it for publication in 1912. In this first effort, he introduces the invincible hero John Carter and the world of Barsoom. Carter, who is transported to Mars apparently by astral projection following a battle with Apaches in Arizona, becomes a 'pulp' star.
"Dejah Thoris, Princess of Mars," a science fiction story, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is published in All Story magazine. In this installment in the tale of John Carter the intrepid hero John Carter takes up with Dejah Thoris, who becomes his princess. The John Carter and Princess Dejah characters are so popular, Burroughs produces a series of stories about them for All Story magazine.
Speaking of seasonal changes: Scientists Find Mars' Core is Liquid Iron, and Throw Light on Seasonal Atmosphere Artist's conception of Mars' interior Image: JPL/NASA Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius proposes that the changing albedo features of Mars are not due to seasonal changes in vegitation, but that they could be due to simple chemical reations brought on by the melting of the polar ice caps
1917
A Princess of Mars, a science fiction novel, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is published. This novel emerges from the John Carter on Mars series of stories that Burroughs has been writing for All Story magazine. Burroughs eventually parlays tales of Carter into 11 novels.
1918
The Gods of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs' second science fiction novel chronicling the adventures of John Carter, is published.
Gustav Holst (1874--1934) composes "The Planets" with one movement per planet the first of which was titled "Mars." Pluto was not yet discovered and Earth was not included in the list among the compositions.
1919
The Warlord of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs' third science fiction novel chronicling the adventures of John Carter, is published.
1920
Thuvia, Maid of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs' fourth science fiction novel chronicling the adventures of John Carter, is published.
1920's
Mars Weather: check out ASU's daily Martian temperature profiles From the Mt. Wilson observatory, Seth Nicholson and Edison Pettit estimated the temperature of various regions of Mars. A 100-inch mirror was used to collect the "radiation" from Mars heating a thermocouple, which produced an electrical current. This current was then measured by a galvanometer to estimate the temperatures. They measured the equatorial regions of Mars at noon to be 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and along the limb of Mars at sunrise to be approximately -120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Their measurements of the light from Mars resulted in an estimate that the surface temperatures in the equatorial regions of Mars at noon hit 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures along the limb of Mars at sunrise were measured to be approximately -120 degrees Fahrenheit. The light coming from the polar regions was too weak for the temperatures there to be determined.
1921
A Message from Mars, a black and white 63-minute movie directed by Maxwell Karger, is actually a remake of a 1913 British film of the same name. Featuring a Martian who is sent to Earth by the God of Mars as punishment, he is charged with changing the egotistical antagonist, Horace Parlan, played by Bert Lytell, into a kinder, gentler man. However unbelievably, the Martian succeeds.
1922
The Chessmen of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs' fifth science fiction novel chronicling the adventures of John Carter, is published.
1924
Astronomy professor Davis Todd of Amherst College proposes operating a radio set from a dirigible 3,000 meters above the ground to communicate with Martians, basing his suggestion on the belief that they are capable of tuning into Earth's broadcast stations. In August, when Mars is closest to the Earth at 60 million kilometers, Todd arranges to have the U.S. Government turn off its high-powered transmitters for five minutes before each hour between August 21 and August 23. During these silent periods, he uses a receiver tuned to a wavelength between five and six kilometers to tape-record any incoming signals. Nothing that could be ascribed to an extraterrestrial source is picked up. Scientists soon learn that these very long waves are reflected back into space from the ground. {See below.}
1925
Signals picked up and believed to be emanating from Mars are found to be noise from Earth's own increasing number of radio transmitters. This turns the idea of life on Mars into a taboo subject.
1928
The Master Mind of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs' sixth science fiction novel chronicling the adventures of John Carter, is published.
1931
A Fighting Man of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs' seventh science fiction novel chronicling the adventures of John Carter, is published.
Hear Ray Bradbury on Planetary Radio
1934
Wonder Stories, one of the 'pulp' homes of sci-fi soon-to-be-greats, including Ray Bradbury, is founded.
"A Martian Odyssey," a science fiction novelette by popular sf 'pulp' writer Stanley G. Weinbaum (1902-1935), is published. Eloquently foreshadowing the difficulty in communicating with extraterrestrial intelligences, it introduces an alien bird named Tweel, who does not speak English nor think like a human being.
1936
Swords of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs' eighth science fiction novel chronicling the adventures of John Carter, is published.
1938
John W. Campbell assumes editorial command of Astounding Science Fiction magazine. He draws upon a collection of writers, including Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Calrke, Robert Heinlein, and A.E. Van Vogt, to direct the genre in a more sophisticated literary and scientific way.
Oct 30. Producer-director-actor Orson Welles broadcasts an enactment of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds for the radio drama series Mercury Theater on the Air and sets off a panic in New Jersey. Welles dramatically enhances the documentary approach used in the book by performing the radio play as if it is a newscast. Even though numerous disclaimers inform listeners the broadcast is theater, hundreds of people listening to the broadcast believe the Martian invasion is real and act accordingly. The terror instilled by the broadcast nearly causes riots and, according to news reports, two people commit suicide. Welles undergoes an investigation, but he and his career will survive.
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938), also known as Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars, directed by Ford Beebe and Robert F. Hill and starring Larry 'Buster' Crabbe as Flash, is the follow-up serial to the hit serial Flash Gordon released in 1936. Flash and his crew are on Mars battling the evils of Ming the Merciless and a dastardly queen who are stripping Earth of its nitrogen and turning humans into clay. While the script originally called for the set to be planet Mongo, the impact of Orson Welles' radio broadcast of War of the Worlds caused studio execs to change the location to the Red Planet to ride the Martian wave of popularity.
1939
World War II begins between the Axis Powers led by Germany, Italy and Japan, and the Allied Powers led by Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States. Nobody is thinking much about Mars.
1940
Synthetic Men of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs' ninth science fiction novel chronicling the adventures of John Carter, is published.
1945
The Allied Powers win World War II.
1948
Llana of Gathol, Edgar Rice Burroughs' tenth science fiction novel chronicling the adventures of John Carter, is published.
1950
The Martian Chronicles, a science fiction novel by Ray Bradbury (b. 1920), is published. Created from a collection of short stories, the book revolves around the theme of Earth's colonization of Mars. Suggesting that humanity shapes reality to suit its own expectations, the Martians appear only occasionally, as mysterious apparitions in the distant hillsides or in the guise of human inhabitants. Written during the height of Cold War, the book makes daring statements against imperialism, racism, environmental pollution, censorship, and the nuclear arms race as Bradbury characteristically blends nostalgia with idealism, past with future, creating a tapestry of colors, smells, and sounds that give life to the idea of human colonization of Mars. It is hailed as a masterpiece and becomes the most widely read science-fiction book during the 1950s.
Rocketship X-M -- Directed by Kurt Neumann (The Fly) and starring Lloyd Bridges, this film tells the story of the first manned rocketship expedition to the Moon. In a twist of fate, the rocketship flies off course and lands instead on Mars. Interestingly, this movie was part of Hollywood's own space race. As Destination Moon, the Irving Pichel production of Robert A. Heinlein's classic sci-fi novel of the same name, was being shot, Neumann rushed his film into production and managed to beat his competitor to the silver screen. Upon finding a large, unoccupied dome-shaped structure and other items on the Red Planet, the protagonists determine that a technologically superior civilization had once lived there but died out as a result of an atomic holocaust. The drama heats up when blind Neanderthal-like Martian survivors appear and begin attacking the crew. The crew makes it back to their rocketship and beats a hasty retreat, only to run out of fuel and crash and burn on Earth.
Clyde Tombaugh -- the discoverer of Pluto -- proposed that the canals on Mars are actually fractures caused by the impact of meteors.
1952
Red Planet Mars -- Directed by Peter Horner, this movie offers up a plot that mirrors the fear of communism that is rippling through the western world. Starring Peter Graves (The Thing, Mission Impossible), the storyline revolves around a husband and wife science team who pick up television transmissions from Mars which reveal that the planet is utopian, and ruled by a supreme commandeer that turns out to be God. Earthlings accept the news in poor form and chaos break out. Deemed by some critics as unwatchable and so bad as to be funny by others, the film appears to be a failed attempt to inject religiosity into its message.
1953
Abbott & Costello Go to Mars aka Onto Mars aka Rocket and Roll -- Directed by Charles Lamont and starring two of the world's beloved comedians, the film is typical slapstick, double-talking Abbott & Costello, but in the end it is deemed overall as one of their worst efforts. Actually, their rocketship crash-lands on Venus - a planet ruled by women who hate men -- and they never make it to Mars.
Invaders from Mars -- Directed by William Cameron Menzies, this low-budget sci-fi movie was the first of numerous invasion films of the1950s to be shot and released in color. It tells the story of a Martian invasion through a child's eyes. After hearing a flying saucer land, a young boy, played by Jimmy Hunt, realizes something is amiss when he finds that his parents have radios buried in their necks. He seeks help from a psychologist -- Helena Carter -- and an astronomer -- Arthur Franz, who are eventually kidnapped by tentacled Martians. In the end, they are rescued and the Martian spaceship is destroyed and our intrepid young hero wakes up to realize it was all a dream. Then, he hears a flying saucer land.
War of the Worlds invades movie theaters. Directed by Byron Haskin and produced by George Pal, this is the first major motion picture based on H.G. Wells' classic novel and it marks a milestone in the history of science fiction cinema. Although poetic license is taken - the location is changed from England in 1890 to California in 1953 and the famous Martian war machines are replaced by ominous flying saucers - it remains essentially true to Wells' original work and remains one of the few sci-fi films that shows a mass invasion of aliens.
On the initiative of the Lowell Observatory, an International Mars Committee is organized to continuously observe of Mars during the opposition of 1954.
1954
Devil Girl From Mars -- Directed by David Macdonald and starring Patricia Laffan as the matriarch Martian, Nyah, and Hazel Court as one of her victims, this movie turns out to be one of the most ridiculous sci-fi movies to emerge from the Brits. Basically, the plotline revolves around the leather-jumpsuited and mini-skirted Nyah's arrival and search for healthy Earthmen to take back to the Red Planet for breeding purposes. An escaped murderer -- played by Peter Reynolds -- ultimately goes along, but manages to somehow blow up the spaceship en route, sacrificing himself to kill the powerful Martian matriarch and ostensibly save Earth. It becomes yet another campy cult sci-fi movie.
1955
Conquest of Space -- Based on the book The Mars Project by Werner von Braun, this Byron Haskin-directed, George Pal-produced movie originally featured a storyline that would take viewers to Venus, Mars and Jupiter, but budget cuts scale the mission down to just Mars -- foreshadowing, however ironically, what will happen in real planetary exploration efforts. Nevertheless, while the action is oftentimes limp, and the religious overtones are by now clichéd, the visuals of the planet itself -- created by astronomical painter Chelsey Bonestell -- are impressive. Even so, as movies go, it is a financial disaster and, according to some reviewers, marks the end of the so-called era of 'realist' space films until 2001 in 1968.
1960
Oct 10. The Soviet Union launches Korabl 4 (Marsnik 1) to fly by Mars. It is the USSR's first attempt at an interplanetary probe. After launch, however, the rocket's third stage fails to lift the probe into orbit.
Oct 14. The Soviet Union launches Korabl 5 (Marsnik 2) to fly by Mars. Just after launch, the rocket's third stage fails and the probe never achieves Earth orbit.
The Angry Red Planet aka Invasion of Mars -- Directed by Ib Melchior, this low-budget action adventure movie tells the story of four astronauts who survive the trip to Mars only to encounter life threatening three-eyed giant Martians and huge animals that appear to be a genetically engineered mix of bats and rats and spiders and crabs. Melchior uses a tinting process known as Cinemagic to give the Red Planet a pinkish hue, and orders up sets that feature buildings that redefine skyscrapers, giving Mars a visual appearance distinct from other efforts. As the screen fades to black, three of the four astronauts have been killed, while the only female astronaut, played by Nora Hayden, returns to Earth. In 2000, the film is reworked and released as Red Planet (see below.)
1961
Stranger in a Strange Land, a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, is published. The storyline centers on the return, assimilation (of lack of it) and adventures of Valentine Michael Smith, who was born during, and is the only survivor of, the first manned mission to Mars. Raised by Martians, he knows nothing of Earth's cultures- - or of women for that matter. Being the legal heir to a huge financial empire, and the de facto owner of the planet Mars on top of his uniqueness turn him into a global sensation. As Valentine Michael Smith explores human sexuality and the human concept of love, he ultimately, controversially, establishes his own religion, teaching Earthlings some unforgettable lessons in the process. The book -- which introduces the word 'grok' to the English lexicon and influences the Sixties migration into communes -- becomes an immediate must-read in colleges across America, earns a Hugo Award in 1962, and eventually becomes a classic in modern literature. It is deemed by many critics and readers to be one of the greatest science fiction novels ever written. In the words of author Kurt Vonnegut it is "a brilliant mind-bender."
1962
Oct 24. The Soviet Union launches Korabl 11 (Sputnik 22) to fly by Mars. The spacecraft breaks apart after reaching Earth orbit and the debris re-enters Earth's atmosphere. It is tracked by the U.S. Ballistic Missile Early Warning System in Alaska, where officials at first think it is a Soviet ICBM attack in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis that is threatening nuclear war between the U.S. and Cuba.
Nov 1.The Soviet Union launches Mars 1 (Sputnik 23) to fly by Mars. It is about 107 million kilometers (66 million miles) from Earth when controllers lose contact with its signal.
Nov 4. The Soviet Union launches Korabl 13 (Sputnik 24) to land on Mars. The spacecraft breaks apart in Earth orbit during a burn to transfer the probe to a Mars trajectory.
The Day Mars Invaded Earth -- Directed/produced by Maury Dexter, this Invasion of the Body Snatchers-derived effort stars Kent Taylor and Marie Windsor as a couple who begin seeing doubles of their friends and family. As the script turns, the doubles are actually Martians who are quietly taking assuming control of the brains and resurrected bodies of their human counterparts in order to prevent the human exploration and colonization of their home planet. In the end, counter to Hollywood tradition, the Martians win.
Lowell Observatory astronomer, Earl Charles Slipher publishes Photographic History of Mars (1905-1961)
1963
Sep 29. My Favorite Martian, created by Jack L. Greene and starring Ray Walston as the Martian and Bill Bixby as his Earthling host, newspaper reporter Tim O'Hara, debuts on CBS-TV to enthusiastic reviews and a 33% share of the television viewing audience. Offering an alternative to the monsters from outer space theme that pervaded 1950s sci-fi films, Walston's Martian is as irascible as he is lovable. After being rejected by every producer who had ever seen it until producer Jack Chertok reportedly found it at the bottom of a pile of scripts, the show quickly turns into one of America's favorite sit-coms. "{D}espite the premise of a man from Mars with antennae growing from his head who can disappear at will and read Earthlings' thoughts {the show} seemed professional, slickly done and completely delightful ," reports the Los Angeles Times reviewer after its debut. The show runs until September 4, 1966.
1964
Robinson Crusoe on Mars -- In this underground sci-fi classic, a rocketship bound for Mars -- the Mars Gravity Probe One -- is forced to change course in order to avoid an asteroid. Commander Kit Draper (Paul Mantee) and Colonel Dan MacReady (Adam West), along with a monkey named Mona, head to Mars in separate escape pods. MacReady crashes and burns. Commander Draper lands and the plot twists into a story of survival.
Nov 5. The USA launches Mariner 3 to fly by Mars. A shield designed to protect Mariner 3's instruments during launch fails to release once the spacecraft has reached Earth orbit. With its instruments covered and the extra weight of the shield dragging it down, the spacecraft is unable to obtain the necessary trajectory to send it on to Mars.
Nov 28. The USA launches Mariner 4 to fly by Mars. It will become the first spacecraft to fly by Mars and obtain close-up pictures of the Red Planet.
Nov 30. The Soviet Union launches Zond 2 to fly by Mars and drop a descent craft, but controllers lose contact with the spacecraft after a mid-course correction maneuver.
Zond 3, initially a companion to Zond 2, misses its launch window to Mars. It is instead launched on a Mars trajectory to study the Moon, interplanetary space, and to perform spacecraft tests.
John Carter of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs' eleventh and final science fiction novel chronicling the adventures of John Carter, is published. Best known not for his Martian tales but for Tarzan, Burroughs is "a much underrated writer," according to the esteemed Sir Arthur C. Clarke.
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians -- Directed by Nicholas Webster, this low budget-movie has found its way to the top of many critics' lists of the 'Worst Christmas Movies Ever Made,' because of performances and production that are defined, diplomatically, as amateurish. As the storyline goes, Mars' Ruling Council members cannot seem to do anything to make their deprived children happy, so they plan to kidnap Santa Claus, played by John Call, from Earth. It goes down the chimney from there.
1965
Jul 14. Mariner 4 flies within 9,844 kilometers (6,117 miles) of Mars and begins transmitting data back to Earth. It returns images of a large, ancient crater and confirms the existence of a thin Martian atmosphere, composed of carbon dioxide. Once past Mars, the spacecraft continues on its way, returning data as it goes.
Oct. Mariner 4 ceases data return when the orientation of its antenna makes communication with Earth impossible.
1966
Mars Needs Women -- Directed by Larry Buchanan, this campy, low-budget sci-fi movie is considered so bad, its special effects so inept that it becomes an underground cult classic, perhaps because it represents Hollywood filmmaking at its worst, according to various movie critics, including Michael Medved. It stars Disney regular Tommy Kirk as the leader of a group of Martians who come to Earth in search of women with whom to repopulate the Red Planet. The military, however, view their arrival as the prologue to an invasion and the drama ensues. In the end, the Martians escape without the women of their choice - an airline flight attendant, a burlesque dancer and a geneticist.
1967
Late in the year, scientists re-establish contact with Mariner 4 and begin, once again, receiving data.
Dec 20. NASA terminates the Mariner 4 mission.
1968
Mission Mars -- Directed by Nick Webster, this low-budget sci-fi film revolves around the concept of a presence on Mars awaiting humankind to reach it, not unlike the theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey. But any similarity to the Stanley Kubrick/Arthur C. Clarke masterpiece ends there. Starring Darren McGavin, Nick Adams, and George DeVries as the astronauts who en route to the Red Planet cross flight paths with two dead Russian cosmonauts. Upon their arrival, the trio encounters a third, unconscious, cosmonaut and do battle with the evil alien presence before returning home with their new-found comrade.
1969
Feb 25. The USA launches Mariner 6 to fly by Mars. Its twin, Mariner 7, will launch in 31 days.
Mar 27. The Soviet Union launches Mars 1969A to orbit Mars. The third stage of the rocket launching this mission catches fire and explodes, causing the remaining pieces to crash-land back on Earth.
Mar 27. The USA launches Mariner 7 to fly by Mars. It is scheduled to arrive at Mars five days after Mariner 6.
Apr 2. The Soviet Union launches Mars 1969B to orbit Mars. The first stage of the rocket fails almost immediately after liftoff.
Jul 31. Mariner 6 successfully flies by the planet Mars. At closest approach, it is 3,431 kilometers (2,131 miles) from the Martian surface. The spacecraft sends back a total of 75 images of Mars.
Aug 5. Mariner 7 successfully flies within 3,430 kilometers (2131 miles) of the Martian surface. It will ultimately return 126 images of Mars. Combined with data from Mariner 6, these missions help scientists establish the mass, radius and shape of the planet. They also discover that Mars's southern polar ice cap is composed of carbon dioxide.
1971
May 8. The USA launches Mariner 8 to fly by Mars. It fails to reach Earth orbit.
May 10. The Soviet Union launches Kosmos 419 to orbit Mars. Kosmos 419 reaches Earth orbit, but its fourth stage rocket, which would have sent the spacecraft on its way, fails to ignite. The spacecraft re-enters the atmosphere and is destroyed.
May 19. The Soviet Union successfully launches Mars 2 toward Mars.
May 28. The Soviet Union successfully launches Mars 3, a spacecraft identical to Mars 2.
May 30. The USA launches Mariner 9.
Nov 14. Mariner 9 becomes the first spacecraft from the USA to go into orbit around another planet. However, excitement for its arrival was subdued by a dark cloud -- literally. A Martian dust storm, which started in late September, has grown to cover the entire planet. The only surface features visible are the summit of Olympus Mons and the three volcanoes of Tharsis Ridge. Mission scientists will have to wait until the dust settles before they begin the science portion of the mission.
Nov 27. Mars 2 arrives at Mars, releasing a probe that descends to the surface (at a much faster rate than intended) and crashes. However, the Mars 2 orbiter is successfully placed in an 18-hour orbit.
Dec 2. Mars 3 arrives, delivers a descent craft to the Red Planet that survives on the surface for 20 seconds before mysteriously shutting down. The orbiter, short on fuel, is unable to obtain its original 18-hour orbit. Instead, the spacecraft ends up in an almost 13-day orbit around the planet.
1972
Aug 22. Mars 2 and 3 shut down. Together, the Mars 2 and 3 orbiters returned 60 images of Mars, recorded temperatures ranging from -110C to 13C (-166F to 55F), produced surface relief maps and data about the Martian gravity and magnetic fields.
Oct 27. Mariner 9 runs out of fuel. All told, it has taken a total of 7,329 images of Mars, returned data about the atmospheric and surface composition of the planet, and the density and pressure of its atmosphere, as well as its gravity and topography. The spacecraft also provides scientists with the first close-up views of Phobos and Deimos, the two moons of Mars.
1973
Jul 21. The Soviet Union launches Mars 4 to orbit Mars.
Jul 25. The Soviet Union launches Mars 5 to orbit Mars.
Aug 5. The Soviet Union launches Mars 6, a combined flyby and descent craft.
Aug 9. The Soviet Union launches Mars 7 to land on the Red Planet.
1974
Feb 10. Mars 4 arrives at the Red Planet, but its retro rockets fail to fire. So, the spacecraft flies by the planet instead of slowing down and going into orbit. As it soars past the planet at a distance of 2,200 kilometers (1,370 miles) it takes one set of images and collects limited data.
Feb 12. The USSR's Mars 5 successfully goes into orbit around the Red Planet. The spacecraft completes 22 orbits in the same number of days before a problem onboard the spacecraft terminates the mission. Mars 5 returns 60 images of the Red Planet.
Mar 6. Mars 7 successfully arrives at the planet, but an error onboard the spacecraft causes the lander to separate early and it misses the planet by 1,300 kilometers (800 miles), and both spacecraft and lander go into a solar orbit.
Mar 12. The USSR's Mars 6 arrives at the Red Planet. Its descent craft separates from the main spacecraft and descends through the atmosphere, transmitting 224 seconds of data before abruptly cutting off (either when the retro rockets fire or when it slams into the ground). Although this is the first data of its kind (from within the Martian atmosphere), most of it is garbled and unusable. The main spacecraft acts as a transmission relay between the descent craft and Earth. It also performs an occultation experiment before it flew past the Red Planet.
Soviet attempts to visit Mars end for fifteen years.
1975
Aug 20. The USA launches Viking 1 to orbit and land. Each of the two Viking spacecraft that will go to Mars in 1975 consist of two separate units, an orbiter and a lander.
Sep 9. The USA launches Viking 2 to Mars. Like its twin, Viking 1, it is comprised of two components, an orbiter and lander.
1976
Jun 19. Viking 1 arrives at Mars, goes into orbit around the Red Planet, and begins taking pictures of the surface in search of a safe landing site for the lander. Mission planners hope for a July 4th landing, but the original site turns out to be too rocky. Another site is chosen.
Jul 20. Viking 1 lands on Mars. It is the first successful Mars landing and it occurs on the seventh anniversary of the first Moon landing. The Viking 1 lander touches down in the Chryse Planitia, about 20 degrees north of the equator (22.48 degrees north, 49.97 degrees west). The lander takes extensive weather readings and conducts experiments on soil samples that it collects with a scoop. Both the orbiter and lander will take many images of the Red Planet and collect a tremendous amount of atmospheric and surface data.
Aug 7. Viking 2 goes into orbit around Mars.
Sep 3. The Viking 2 lander separates from the orbiter and touches down in the Utopia Planitia, on the opposite side of the planet and almost 1,500 kilometers closer to the north pole than Viking 1 (at roughly 47.27 degrees north, 225.99 degrees west). One of the lander's legs settles down on a rock, so the entire lander is tilted by about eight degrees. The lander takes extensive atmospheric readings and conducts experiments on soil samples that it collects with a scoop. In addition, between the two landers, over 1,400 images were taken of the Martian surface.
1977
Capricorn One -- Directed by Peter Hyams, this high-budget drama features a number of stars including Elliot Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro, Sam Waterston, Telly Savalas, Karen Black and O.J. Simpson and an intriguing premise. The astronauts scheduled for the first manned mission to Mars, as this script goes, are removed from the ship because it is deemed unsafe. Not long after they are asked to participate in a fake landing on a specially designed set, they realize their lives are in danger.
1978
Jul 25. After 706 orbits, the Viking 2 orbiter is shut down. It has returned some 16,000 images.
1979
Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles land on television in the form of a miniseries, directed by Michael Anderson and starring Rock Hudson.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century aka An Interplanetary Battle with the Tiger Men of Mars swashbuckles onto the silver screen. Created by Glen A. Larsen, directed by Daniel Haller, and starring Gil Gerard as Buck, this telefilm is a remake of the 1939 serial. Following the same basic storyline but influenced by Barbarella and Star Wars, a cheerful Buck uses old-fashioned heroics and high technology to thwart the plan of the evil Princess Ardela, played by Pamela Hensley, to take over Earth.
1980
Apr 11. The Viking 2 lander's batteries fail; it ceases operation.
Aug 17. The Viking 1 orbiter is powered down after 1,400 orbits.
The Planetary Society is founded by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis Friedman. The Society will become a leading advocate of the scientific exploration of Mars.
1982
Jan. The Viking 1 lander is renamed the Thomas Mutch Memorial Station in honor of the late leader of the Viking imaging team, who had recently died in a climbing accident in the Himalayas.
Nov 13. Contact is lost with the Viking 1 lander due to a faulty command sent by ground control. There will not be another successful American mission to Mars for fifteen years.
1983
Richard Hoagland begins to analyze pictures of Mars returned by Viking. He postulates that one particularly provocative image of what appears to be a large 'monument' resembling a humanoid face in a region known as Cydonia, is an artifact from an ancient and intelligent civilization.
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars aka Bowie '73 with the Spiders from Mars [UK] -- Directed by D.A. Pennebaker, this rock documentary filmed on July 3, 1973, during the final concert of David Bowie's landmark Ziggy Stardust world concert tour (in support of the album of the same name) is finally released after a decade in post production during which Pennebaker reportedly struggled with the soundtrack mix. The film gets a one-time broadcast on television on, oddly, ABC's "Movie of the Week."
1986
Invaders from Mars -- This big budget movie remake of the 1953 classic of the same name is directed by Tobe Hooper, features a stellar cast, including Louise Fletcher, Timothy Bottoms, Bud Cort, and Karen Black, and offers up top-flight special effects by Star Wars innovator John Dykstra. While it fails to achieve the stark, paranoid mood and eerie atmosphere of the original, it is, according to many reviewers, equally entertaining, capable of raising the hair on the back of your neck
1988
Jul 7. The Soviet Union launches Phobos 1 to orbit Mars. The spacecraft is designed to study the Sun and interplanetary space while en route. Once in orbit around Mars, it is to study the Red Planet and take close-up images of its moon Phobos.
Jul 12. The Soviet Union launches Phobos 2 to the Martian moon. It is slated to orbit and drop two "hoppers" (landers) onto the surface of Phobos.
Sep 2. Controllers on the ground accidentally upload software containing a command that deactivates Phobos 1's attitude control thrusters. The spacecraft turns its solar panels away from the Sun and is unable to recharge its batteries. As a result, the mission is lost.
War of the Worlds -- This TV series, which expands on H.G. Wells' original story with the premise that the Martians did not die as in the end of the book, but were instead put into a state of hibernation, airs for two seasons on the Sci-Fi cable TV channel. Starring Jared Martin as Dr. Harrison Blackwood and Lynda Mason Green as Dr. Suzanne McCullough, it picks up, essentially, where the original leaves off. As the curtain rises here, the aliens have gained the power to mix their cells with human cells and to assume control of human bodies.
1989
Jan 29. Phobos 2 goes into orbit around the Martian moon and begins sending back preliminary data.
Mar 27. Just before Phobos 2 is to move within 50 meters (160 feet) of the Martian moon and deploy its two "hoppers" (landers), the spacecraft's onboard computer malfunctions and the mission is lost.
1990
"Ray Bradbury's Chronicles: The Martian Episodes" -- Starring David Carradine, Ben Cross, John Vernon, Hal Linden, and David Birney, offers up five journeys into interplanetary adventure, mystery and thrills on the fabled Red Planet, each adapted from the author's works. It airs on the Ray Bradbury Theater on cable television.
1992
Sep 25. The USA launches Mars Observer to orbit and study the Red Planet.
1993
Aug 21. Just three days away from Mars, Mars Observer goes silent and all contact with the spacecraft is suddenly lost. Scientists are unable to determine the cause of the failure.
1994
The Planetary Society produces Visions of Mars, a CD-ROM filled with art and literature inspired by the Red Planet. A collaborative project that involves the Russian Space Research Institute, the CD-ROM features more than 70 novels, stories, and articles about Mars -- from a 10th century Arabic poem to Tim Stanley Robinson's Green Mars, as well as 54 images of the planet drawn from sci-fi and astronomy sources, part of a documentary made the night the Viking 1 lander settled on Mars, and even Orson Welles' legendary radio play of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds.
Richard Hoagland begins appearing on the UFO circuit with the Viking photographs taken in the Cydonia region and his theory that they represent "evidence" that an intelligent species once commanded the Red Planet. NASA and JPL scientists dismiss the image seen in the photographs as "a play of light and shadows."
1995
The general scientific consensus about life on Mars shifts once again, this time to the hypothesis that the conditions to support life did exist long ago on the Red Planet.
May 29. The Planetary Society and LEGO sign an agreement to create "Red Rover, Red Rover," a classroom educational product allowing kids to simulate the exploration of Mars through a tele-operated rover.
1996
Aug 7. A team of scientists announce that ALH84001, a meteorite from Mars initially recovered by a National Science Foundation (NSF) expedition in 1984, bears signs of primitive, microbial life. Other scientists soon contest the findings. The debate continues to this day.
Nov 7. The USA launches Mars Global Surveyor to orbit the Red Planet.
Nov 16. Russia launches Mars 96, consisting of an orbiter, a lander, and two soil penetrators. The rocket carrying the spacecraft launches successfully, but its fourth stage ignites prematurely and sends the spacecraft crashing back to Earth.
Dec 4. The USA launches Pathfinder to Mars. This spacecraft will land on the Red Planet and send out the first American rover, named Sojourner Truth (after the African American abolitionist) to trek around and sample rocks.
The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must by Robert Zubrin with Richard Wagner is published. Zubrin, a former senior engineer at Lockheed Martin and founder of Pioneer Astronautics, a space-exploration and research and development firm, offers up a step-by-step plan of how we can use present day technology to send humans to Mars. Buzz Aldrin sums up Zubrin's effort this way: "This book shows how a flight to Mars has progressed from fantasy to . . . a reality that can be achieved by us."
Special Report: Journey to Mars -- This made-for-TV movie, directed by Robert Mandel and starring Keith Carradine, Dean Jones, Judge Reinhold, and Alfre Woodard tells the story of a team of astronauts on a seven-month voyage to Mars who find the mission -- and their lives -- in danger because of last-minute complications.
Mars Attacks! This high-budget science-fiction comedy, directed by Tim Burton, features an all-star, ensemble cast, including Jack Nicholson, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Jim Brown, Glenn Close, Danny Devito, Michael J. Fox, Pam Grier, Tom Jones, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rod Steiger and Paul Winfield. The plot twists as the world turns to U.S. President James Dale, played by Nicholson, for leadership in its greatest hour of need. However, as Dale continually botches his overtures to the Martians, everyone is left to wonder whether there isn't somebody better to represent the Earthlings?
1997
Jul 4. Pathfinder passes through Mars's atmosphere, sheds its heat shield, fires its retro-rockets, deploys a set of airbags and then bounces to a stop on the Martian surface, all within four minutes of arriving at the Red Planet. This dramatic landing marks the first successful mission to the Martian surface since Viking, 20 years earlier. It is promptly renamed the Sagan Memorial Station (after The Planetary Society's co-founder Carl Sagan, who had died Dec. 20). Once safely on the surface, the protective airbags deflate and retract, allowing the pyramid-shaped spacecraft to unfold its three petals, revealing a weather station and the small Sojourner rover.
Jul 6. Sojourner, the six-wheeled rover carried to Mars on board Pathfinder rolls off a ramp and onto the Martian surface.
Sep 12. Mars Global Surveyor arrives at Mars. To save fuel, the orbiter is scheduled to go through a series of aerobraking maneuvers to shrink its elliptical, 18-hour orbit to a circular two-hour orbit. During one of its aerobraking passes, while the spacecraft is using the drag of the atmosphere to slow its speed, engineers on Earth notice that one of its solar panels has been overextended. Faced with the possibility of losing the solar panel, engineers decide to dramatically slow down the aerobraking process in order to avoid stressing the questionable panel. Over the next year, scientists gently tweak the orbit.
Sep 27. Contact with Pathfinder/Sagan Memorial Station and Sojourner, which have continued to transmit data for more than a month longer than planned, is lost.
1998
Jul 3. The Japanese launch Nozomi (Planet B) to orbit Mars. It is scheduled to arrive at Mars in October, 1999.
Dec 21. Japan's Nozomi fails to gain enough speed during an Earth flyby. The spacecraft has also used much more fuel than predicted, so, in an effort to conserve fuel, plans are reformulated to send the craft on a slower route. It is now slated to arrive in December 2003.
Dec 11. The USA launches Mars Climate Orbiter to orbit the Red Planet and study its weather systems and search for signs of water.
1999
Jan 3. The USA launches Mars Polar Lander to land on the Red Planet and study the ice caps at its south pole. The spacecraft also carries Deep Space 2 (Amundsen & Scott), two penetrators, and a microphone onboard. The two microprobes are designed to separate from Mars Polar Lander's cruise stage just before the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere. The probes are to fall to the surface, hitting the ground at speeds of 160-200 meters/second. Their heat shields will shatter on impact and the probes will penetrate the ground by as much as a meter, depending on the composition of the soil. Data from the probes is to be sent to the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor, which will then relay the data back to Earth. The microphone will be turned on as Mars Polar Lander lands.
1999
Mar. Mars Global Surveyor finally begins the science portion of its mission.
Mar 5. NASA accepts The Planetary Society's Red Rover Goes To Mars project as an educational experiment to be carried on the proposed Mars Surveyor 2001. Surveyor is later canceled.
Sep 23. Mars Climate Orbiter is lost. A mathematical conversion error places the spacecraft too close to Mars at the time of orbital insertion.
Dec 3. Mars Polar Lander arrives at Mars and turns its antenna away from Earth to prepare for its entry into the Martian atmosphere. This is the last time controllers hear from the spacecraft. A review board determines the most likely cause for the loss of mission to be a faulty software system that may have triggered the retro rockets to turn off early, causing the lander to crash instead of gently touch down on the surface. The spacecraft was to land on the layered terrain of the southern polar ice cap, less than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the south pole and scoop up soil samples. No signal is ever received from the Deep Space 2 penetrators that were to have separated from the main spacecraft.
1999
My Favorite Martian -- This major motion picture adaptation of the popular 1960s TV show is directed by Donald Petrie and stars Christopher Lloyd as the Martian, Jeff Daniels as the Earthling who takes him in, and Daryl Hannah and Elizabeth Hurley as Daniels's good-girl and bad-girl crushes. TV's Martian, Ray Waltson, also appears, as a secret agent alien hunter.
2000
Mission to Mars lands on movie screens. This high-budget movie -- directed by Brian De Palma, starring Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins, and Don Cheadle -- portrays a search and rescue operation sent to determine the outcome of the first Mars mission, which encountered trouble and lost communications. Although the rusty red Martian landscape is realistically reproduced, the decision to show a robotic alien creature unintentionally turns the movie into something of a farce.
May 22. NASA cancels the 2001 Mars Surveyor mission.
Nov 6. NASA accepts The Planetary Society's Red Rover Goes To Mars project as an educational experiment on the Mars Exploration Rover mission slated to launch in 2003.
Nov. Red Planet, directed by Antony Hoffman, starring Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Carrie Ann Moss, and Terrence Stamp, takes viewers to the year 2050 -- Earth is hopelessly polluted, and the first expedition is sent to Mars to scout out sites for a colony which will save humanity.
2001
Feb 1. Mars Global Surveyor completes its primary mission. It is now well into its extended mission and continues to return images and data from Mars.
April 7, 2001
Apr 7. The USA launches 2001 Mars Odyssey to orbit and produce a complete map of the Red Planet.
Oct 24. Mars Odyssey reaches the Red Planet. Its mapping mission is currently underway. It is capturing images of the Martian surface at resolutions between those of Viking and Mars Global Surveyor, and is making both daytime and nighttime observations of the surface in thermal infrared wavelengths at resolutions higher than ever before.
Ghosts of Mars - Directed by horror meister John Carpenter, this sci-fi flick provides another dark vehicle for Ice Cube and further launches the career of Natasha Henstridge, although it does little for the planet. "Terror," the movie's tagline goes, "is the same on any planet."
2003
War Of The Worlds is slated to premiere at Cannes 2003. Newly formed Pendragon Pictures is currently shooting a new rendition of the H.G. Wells classic. Described as a non-campy, live action production, the latest version will be directed by Timothy Hines and is being produced by Susan Goforth.
August 27. At 9:46 a.m. GMT, Mars made its closest approach to Earth in 59,619 years, passing at a distance of 55.718 million kilometers (or 34, 623 million miles). It will not come this close again for 284 years.
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