Mars

Mars has always been shrouded in mystery. It is very difficult to resolve through a telescope. For many centuries it remained just a reddish blur in the sky. Even in ancient times, its blood-red color evoked fear and gave rise to myths and legends that are still with us today.

Over the centuries, bits and pieces of data on Mars have accumulated, and as more probes have made their way to the Red Planet, its veil of mystery is falling away. Nearly every week we are seeing exciting new pictures of Mars and learning more about its geology, weather, and history.

What do we actually know about Mars? Is it different from what people once thought they knew about Mars? Is there water on Mars? Is there possibly life that we have missed? What would it be like to live on Mars? What resources are there? Can Mars be terraformed to make it habitable for humans?

Markus Hotakainen's engrossing tale of Mars: From Myth and Mystery to Recent Discoveries will fill you in and entertain you with unbelievable stories that were once believed about Mars. We have come a long way in knowing our neighbor in space. Join Markus on this journey from myth to reality, and find out what we do know about Mars, and what is still a mystery.

Zusammenfassung
MARS ON OUR MINDS No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own . . . Herbert George Wells: War of the Worlds (1898) Yes, they would. And they did, actually very firmly. In the last years of the nineteenth century it was almost an established fact that there were intelligences greater than that of humans and that they were residing on our planetary neighbor, Mars. Ever since those days, people have been waiting for the attack of the little green creatures of the Red Planet with fear, even with fear verging on panic. For a long time Martianhas been synonymous with extraterrestrial being. Knowledge about Mars has increased tremendously since the end of the nineteenth century. A mysterious world shrouded in myth was first mapped with the aid of telescopes and then later imaged by planetary probes. Thus, our celestial sibling has become ever more familiar to us and a more everyday part of our culture. A substantial portion of science fiction is focused on Mars or on our own imaginary voyages to the Red Planet. In the world of movies Mars has symbolized the threat of communism, the fear of everything new and strange, and a future utopia for humanity.

Inhalt
Fourth Rock from the Sun.- God of War, Heavenly Body.- Martian Canal Engineers.- Planetary Ups and Downs.- Unidentical Twins.- The New Mars.- Museum of Water.- Dead or Alive?.- Gallery Mars.- Fear and Panic.- One Really Giant Leap.- Green Thumbs of the Red Planet.- Little Green Persons.- Mars Rocks!.