THE FACE OF MARS BIOK FULL

It all started back in 1976, when NASA released an image of an interesting mountain on Mars, taken by the Viking 1 spacecraft, complete with a caption that described the formation as appearing to have eyes and nostrils. NASA's Viking 1 Orbiter spacecraft photographed this region in the northern latitudes of Mars on Jwhile searching for a landing site for the Viking 2 Lander. Related: Would humans born on Mars grow taller than Earthlings? The face Later, spectroscopic analysis of the light coming from Mars showed that there was no water on its surface.

The theory was debunked in the early 20th century, when it was demonstrated that the 'canals' were merely optical illusions: When viewed through poor-quality telescopes, pointlike features, such as Mars' mountains and craters, appear to be joined together by straight lines. The inaccuracy was further fueled, according to NASA, by excitement over the construction of the Suez Canal, an engineering marvel of the era completed in 1869.

THE FACE OF MARS BIOK FULL

That misconception was popularized by an astronomer named Percival Lowell, who in 1895 presented drawings of the canals in a book, titled 'Mars,' and argued his full theory in a second book, 'Mars as the Abode of Life,' in 1908. The Italian word he used for them, 'canali,' meaning channels, was translated to 'canals' in English, leading many in the English-speaking world to conclude that Mars had intelligent life that had built a system of waterways. (Image credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (opens in new tab)ĭuring Mars' close approach to Earth in 1877, the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli peered through his telescope and observed grooves on the Red Planet's surface. A 19th-century drawing of Mars showing 'canals' and dark areas.

The face of mars biok