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
Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre for up to three years. The satellite will re-broadcast text messages to the world and it will collect data to help academic institutions in conducting different types of research. The Emirates Mars Mission, Hope Mars Mission, was announced by Mohammed bin Rashid in July 2014. The mission is aimed at sending an unmanned probe to Mars by 2021. The probe is expected to arrive seven months later, half a century to the year since the founding of the United Arab Emirates. The Emirates Mars Mission is the first ever space exploration mission to be carried out by the Arab World,