Once Again, Mars Draws the Attention of Earth
Peering through his telescope in 1877, the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli was sure he saw a network of dense channels on the surface of Mars. He named these channels canali, which English speaking astronomers misunderstood as canals, implying an artificial origin. This mistranslation sparked decades of speculation about an intelligent civilization on Mars, speculation that only ended when more advanced telescopes and visiting space probes showed no signs of any canals on the surface. But those space probes soon raised new questions about life on Mars, as early experiments showed tantalising evidence of possible bacterial life-forms.
Since the 1970s Mars has been visited by dozens of robotic probes, including orbiting satellites and rovers capable of driving on the surface. These probes have included several instruments designed to detect possible signs of life, and some of these have given results that show Mars may once have had conditions that are suitable for simple life-forms. Others have shown some controversial evidence that organic processes are currently occurring on the Red Planet. Astronomers remain wary of repeating the mistakes of the Martian Canals, and the hunt for indisputable evidence of life, whether past or present, goes on.
A year on Mars lasts around 23 Earth months, slightly less than two Earth years. As Earth…
