Aliens on Mars!

Our last visit at JPL mainly consisted of physical planetary information from qualified employees rather than the ol’ razzle dazzle. However, I really enjoyed sitting down and seeing the more behind the scenes research that people do at JPL and how exactly they come to all these amazing conclusions about space.

                Towards the end of our day there, we were presented with a presentation that was more of an all-encompassing subject of research and exploration. It started with how the exploration of the moon began and how it parallels with the current rovers on Mars and soon the beginnings of sending people there as well. During this discussion, Percival Lowell was mentioned as a major pioneer of the belief that there were canals built by aliens on Mars. Of course this was immediately fascinating to me because of my film background, but it was even more attractive due to the fact that most people believed him and was seen as a credible source to the public. 

 

 so thoughtful

                The naivety began in 1894 after reading a book about the canals on Mars, he began to become more and more interested in space and astronomy. He decided to build and observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona (which eventually led to the discovery of Pluto) to do his research and study space. He studied all of space but really began to focus on Mars and its canals and soon wrote three books about them Mars, Mars and It’s Canals, and Mars as the Abode of Life. He hypothesized that the advanced species were digging canals in order to tap into the ice caps because there was so little water available on the planet as a whole. These theories obviously excited the public about the new possibilities of alien life but were looked down upon by the astronomical community. Decade later his theories were disproved by NASA but people still held on to certain beliefs that derived from his theories about Mars.

                Lowell also observed Venus believing that the texture was a spoke like surface with a large spot. However, Sky and Telescope in July 2003 hypothesized that Lowell's telescope “created such a small exit pupil at the eyepiece it may have become a giant ophthalmoscope giving Lowell an image of the shadows of blood vessels cast on the retina of his eye.” But he contributed the most to society by searching for more information about Planet X, a planet past Neptune, or better known as Pluto. He believed that there would be a planet with a strong gravitational pull to somehow effect Neptune and Uranus. In 1906 he began the search for Planet X having his legacy carried on when his observatory took the first picture of Pluto in 1915. Later in 1930, Clyde Tombaugh, employed by the observatory, officially discovered Pluto relatively due to Lowell’s research and hypotheses. Lowell’s initials were selected as Pluto’s astronomical symbol although his theories about the planet were proven wrong upon discovery.

                Although most of the astronomical community voiced their skepticism, the public has and always will have a fascination with space and the unknown. Here is a representation on the influence that Lowell had in 1950’s Science Fiction.

Also a video from his observatory