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 Express at 19:14 UT to put the spacecraft into a Mars transfer orbit. The Fregat and "Mars Express" separated at approximately 19:17 UT. The solar panels were then deployed and a trajectory correction manoeuvre was performed on June 4 to aim "Mars Express" towards Mars and allow the Fregat booster to coast into interplanetary space. The "Mars Express" was the first Russian-launched probe to successfully make it out of low Earth orbit since the Soviet Union fell. The Near Earth commissioning phase extended from the separation of the spacecraft from the launcher upper stage until the completion of the initial check