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
Pinocchio in Outer Space 1986's "An American Tail", which is the first one it produced. The talking cricket character was not present in this production. Instead, Pinocchio's sidekick was Nurtle, an alien Twertle (voiced by Arnold Stang), sent by his government to investigate an unusual increase of radiation on Mars. Together they do battle against Astro, a marauding intergalactic whale who was seeking revenge after being abducted by a mysterious race of Martians. In 1965 the film was adapted into a comic strip by Willy Lateste, which was published in "Tintin". Pinocchio in Outer Space Pinocchio in Outer Space is a 1965 Belgian-American animated