Even before the space age brought us photographs of the Martian surface, the planet Mars was a mysterious landscape in the public mind. In the century following Galileo's first astronomical use of the telescope, astronomers discovered dark markings on Mars and bright polar caps. Timing the motions of the markings, they concluded that a Martian day was about 24 hours long, and the similarity with the Earth's day further supported the belief that Mars was another Earth.

Then, in 1877 an Italian astronomer, Giovanni Schiaparelli, announced a discovery that stirred these mild musings into frantic speculation of whole advanced civilizations on the red planet, and launched nearly ninety years of dispute over the veracity of his "discovery". Use the button Below to learn about the "canals" of Mars.
[Canals]

The prospect of artificial canals on Mars spawned fantastic science fiction literature about intelligent life on Mars. Click the button below to find more about Martians in literature and the dramatic effect these fantasies had on the willingness of the people of earth to believe in extraterrestrial intelligence. Find out about the greatest Halloween story ever!
[Martians Stories]

Musings of great civilizations on Mars were not confined to the years before space travel. What's the story on the big stone face on Mars that was discovered by the Viking space probe? Go to the following external link for more information.
[Stone face]