History UsefulNotes / Mars

Mars has two moons, called Phobos and Deimos. They were discovered in 1877, later than all the major moons of all the outer planets, and are named after two figures from Greek mythology.[[note]]sons of Ares (the Greek counterpart of Mars) and Aphrodite (Venus),[[/note]] They are both extremely small; Phobos, the larger of the two, is only ten miles across, and Deimos is half that. Their surface gravity, such as it is, can be measured in micro-''g''. They're really not much more than irregular rocks, asteroids that were captured by Mars' gravity.[[note]]Possibly. Their orbits are rather unusual for captured asteroids, since they each have a near-circular rather than elliptical path and each orbits at relatively low altitude. As such they might be products of a debris field from the hypothesized giant impact on Mars' north hemisphere.[[/note]] Irregular rocks [[BilingualBonus named]] ''[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Fear]]'' and ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Panic]]''. Just don't try to set up a [[VideoGame/Doom teleportation experiment]] between the two.

Mars has two moons, called Phobos and Deimos. They were discovered in 1877, later than all the major moons of all the outer planets, and are named after two figures from Greek mythology.[[note]]sons of Ares (the Greek counterpart of Mars) and Aphrodite (Venus),[[/note]] They are both extremely small; Phobos, the larger of the two, is only ten miles across, and Deimos is half that. Their surface gravity, such as it is, can be measured in micro-''g''. They're really not much more than irregular rocks, asteroids that were captured by Mars' gravity.[[note]]Possibly. Their orbits are rather unusual for captured asteroids, since they each have a near-circular rather than elliptical path and each orbits at relatively low altitude. As such they might be products of a debris field from the hypothesized giant impact on Mars' north hemisphere.[[/note]] Irregular rocks [[BilingualBonus named]] ''[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Fear]]'' and ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Panic]]''.

* In ''Series/DefyingGravity'', Maddux Donner is haunted by his previous mission to Mars, when a storm forced him to abandon two crew members (including his LoveInterest) in order to allow the other three to survive. The current mission involves a journey across the Solar System with landings on several planets, including Mars. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled before they made it to Mars, but WordOfGod is that they would have found the two crew members alive and well.

* ''2001 Mars Odyssey'' (NASA, orbiter, 2001–present)

** After the first human (Philip J. Fry the second) set foot on it in the twenty-first century, Mars has been terraformed, first in order to facilitate the construction of Mars University, then later by farmers and ranchers. There are also jungles, which feature birds, monkeys, tigers and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers elephants]], in lieu of the ones on Earth being long gone. And there's the massive gambling city Mars Vegas. Mars' foliage also contains a great many marijuana plants.

-->-- '''Creator/PatrickStewart''', ''Patrick Stewart Narrates "The Planets"''

-->-- '''Creator/PatrickStewart''', ''Patrick Stewart narrates "The Planets"''

->''"You need to live in a dome initially, but over time you could terraform Mars to look like Earth and eventually walk around outside without anything on... So it's a fixer-upper of a planet."''
-->-- '''[[UsefulNotes/SpaceExplorationTechnologiesCorporation Elon Musk]]'''

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episodes "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E25PeopleAreAlikeAllOver People Are Alike All Over]]", "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E55MrDingleTheStrong Mr. Dingle, the Strong]]" and "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E64WillTheRealMartianPleaseStandUp Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?]]" all depict different Martian races. In the first, they are HumanAliens. In the second, they have two heads. In the third, they have three arms. Furthermore, in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E90TheFugitive The Fugitive]]", the [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifter]] Ben turns into a Martian, a fanged creature with antennae and large eyes, while playing a game with children.

** ''Viking 2'' (orbiter active 1976–78, lander active 1980)

** ''Schiaparelli'' EDM (ESA/Roscosmos, lander, deployed 2016): Crash-landed and destroyed.

** Mars Cube One/[=MarCO=] (NASA, two nanospacecraft orbiters, active 2018–2019): Designed to help relay signals from [=InSight=]. Nicknamed [[WesternAnimation/WallE WALL-E and EVE]].

However, when UsefulNotes/{{NASA}}'s ''Mariner 4'' probe flew past Mars in 1965, it was conclusively shown that the canals didn't actually exist and that the dark features were as proposed by Creator/CarlSagan just the result of dust being blown by the winds of Mars exposing a dark substrate. When the Viking probes landed ([[UsefulNotes/TheSpaceRace the Soviets got there first]] with Mars 3, but the lander was taken out by a dust storm 14.5 seconds after landing), the planet was shown to be lifeless, and the concept of Martians quickly became discredited. More recent observations suggest that Mars may have supported life in the distant past, and some people still cling to hope that life may reside underground, no matter how unlikely it is. However, the Red Planet has had such a hold on human imagination for so long that it is not going to be lost as a setting any time soon.

Mars regained its prominence in human imagination in 1976 when the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_1 Viking 1]] probe reached the planet; equipped with more advanced technology, it was able to take a number of impressively high-resolution photographs. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cydonia_%28region_of_Mars%29 One of these showed]] [[ItKindOfLooksLikeAFace what appears to be a human face]]. Though quickly debunked by every legitimate authority, it has taken its place alongside the Nazca lines and the Pyramids of Giza in conspiracy lore — especially as one of the photographs from the mission ''[[RevealingCoverup has yet to be declassified]]''. Fictional representations of Mars were changed as well; no longer a destination but a stepping-stone to greater glories in the form of ancient ruins filled with LostTechnology, waiting for humanity to discover it and thereby leapfrog into the stars. One way or another, that particular argument will remain unsettled until [[IWantMyJetpack people actually go there unregulated]].

!!!Pre-Mariner

!!!Post-Mariner/Viking