Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The Man Who Popularized Mars


Shaun Saunders sends in a well written article that juxtapositions the upcoming NASA Phoenix mission with the efforts of astronomer Percival Lowell. While Phoenix ( which is to land on Mars AT 7:36 P.M. ON May 25) will explore Mar's northern polar ice-cap looking for signs of life, Lowell, observing Mars, was convinced that he saw signs of intelligent activity covering the complete surface of the planet.

From the Boston.com article which highlights Lowell's career:

Long before NASA was established in 1958, before JFK's impassioned speech about the space race, and before any of the Apollo missions or space shuttle successes and disasters, Percival Lowell devoted much of his career and considerable fortune to trying to prove that Mars hosted intelligent life.

Click here for complete article


Photo from the Lowell Observatory Archive

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