Exploration of Mars

The human race is never satisfied with the boundaries of physical reality and what is set before it. This is evident in the great many scientific feats and endeavors, both successful and unsuccessful, throughout the span of history. What makes the results of these endeavors important to us today is that the failure of science to immediately explain things from first observation is the source for all of our scientific discoveries. 

Without both expert scientists and interested amateurs to follow up on preliminary experiments, much of our common knowledge science would not even be possible. Likewise, without these very same innovators we would not have the subjective, human side of science that helps promote further argument and investigation. One example is the case of the discovery and exploration of Mars. Mars is an example of how many different biases and ideas form our perception and practice of science, as well as how technology helps break through the limitations of human subjectivity.

Though observation of Mars can be traced back to ancient Greece and Babylonia, it is better to start with a more advanced era of scientific discovery. This era of Mars observation started with the reintroduction of the heliocentric theory by Nicolas Copernicus in the early 16th century. Like his predecessor, Aristarchus, the Catholic Church and other scientists of the era criticized his ideas. These criticisms forced Copernicus to amend his theory more toward the laborious idea of a group of smaller orbits (epicycles) rotating in one larger circle (deferent). The theory came under extreme criticism from Tyco Brahe, a late 16th century observer of Mars.