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
Mars Society for testing the innovative balloon system in the low-gravity environment. Test carriers were so far the Airbus A300 for short duration parabolic flights and the sounding rocket test campaigns REXUS3-REGINA and REXUS4-MIRIAM for longer duration flight tests under free space conditions. Further flights tests are planned for the coming years (e.g. MIRIAM II) with the objective of qualifying ARCHIMEDES for its Mars mission by 2018. ARCHIMEDES will be carried to Mars on board an AMSAT Mars Probe or a similar satellite. ARCHIMEDES is developed by the MSD with the support of the Bundeswehr University Munich, of the IABG in Ottobrunn,