Mars in fiction the past; Mars is a setting rather than a goal. Mariner 4 in July 1965 found that Mars—contrary to expectations—is heavily cratered, with a very thin atmosphere. No canals were found; while scientists did not believe that Mars was a moist planet, the lack of surface water surprised them. Science fiction had so influenced real explorations of the planet, however—Carl Sagan was among the many fans who became scientists—that after Mariner 9 in 1971-1972, craters were named after Wells, Burroughs, and other authors. The Mariner and Viking space probes confirmed that the Martian environment is extremely hostile to life. By
The Probe the light beam coming out of the same circle, but is rescued by the others before he is frozen completely. Dexter stays behind while the others begin to explore the inside of the probe. Jefferson Rome and the others discover a room with an alien telemetry system. The probe is drawing up seawater. Jefferson Rome remembers the space probe Surveyor, used to study other nearby planets such as Venus, Mars and Jupiter. The three survivors themselves are being held captive in antiseptic chambers, where they are prey to some strange mutant microbes. Such a mutant microbe, larger than a person,