National Geographic January 2004 [antikvár]

From the Editor national geographic photographer mark thiessen Struggling across the dunes of Mars always struck me as a bad way to die. Growing up in Texas, I knew dry, but nothing as dry as the Mars I read about in science fiction novels. Of course, the idea of the red planet as a menace didn't just come from paperbacks: Orson Welles's War of the Worlds radio broadcast in 1938 convinced some Americans that Martians were attacking New Jersey. It's to be expected, I guess, from a planet named after the Roman god of war and appearing tinged with blood to the naked eye. For me the science fiction books and movies were all in good fun: lots more fiction than science. But we now know that creators of science fiction weren't the only ones to be wrong about Mars. For decades scientists thought the planet's surface was dead and unchanging. Yet as you'll see in our story on page 2—featuring remarkable new images and data from two orbiting spacecraft— it turns out that Mars is home to seasonal storms, dust avalanches, perhaps even snowpacks and flowing glaciers. I hope that by the time you read this, three landers will have begun transmitting even newer information from Mars. For now, that's as close as you can get to the planet's surface. But did you know that there are surprisingly Mars-like places on Earth you can visit? Turn to Do It Yourself, a new monthly page offering ways for you to experience the subjects we cover, and you'll learn what it's like to be a Martian—without dragging yourself across any dunes. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC • JANUARY 2004