Mars was first noticed by the Babylonians, around 400 BC, but they called it Nergal. The Egyptians saw the planet, but weren't impressed and they named it Har Decher, which means The Red One. The Romans called the planet Mars, naming it after the god of war. In 1609, Galileo was the first to see Mars through a telescope. The first map of Mars was drawn in 1659. Christiaan Huygens, in the late 1600s, was the first person to consider life on Mars.
The American probe, Mariner 4, made the first successful flyby of Mars, in 1965. The first time any thing landed on Mars was in 1971; these were two Soviet probes, but they lost contact almost as soon as they landed. Then NASA, in 1975, sent two orbiters to Mars; each orbiter had a landing device and both were able to land on Mars. The successful launch of the Mars Odyssey orbiter, in 2001, led to the discovery of water and ice deposits on Mars. An orbiter, launched in 2003, detected methane in the Mars atmosphere, which is important in trying to determine life on Mars.
The discovery of methane led people to believe that Mars must have had a source of gas on the planet, at some time in its history. The gas could've came from, volcanic activity or a crashing comet, but no one knows. Because of its thin atmosphere, Mars has a hard time warming up; its highest temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius. During the winter, the surface of Mars can get so cold that as much as 25% of the atmosphere will turn into ice.
Over the years, the US, Japan, Europe and the Soviet Union, have all managed to send various spacecrafts to study Mars. Over 60% of all spacecrafts either never made it to Mars or were completely useless by the time they got there. Who knows how much money was spent on those unsuccessful journeys. When it comes to exploring space, countries have an insatiable need to be first. It seems like the journey into space is as much about publicity as it is about gathering information.
There have been many reasons given for the need to explore Mars. Of course, the simplest reason is because it's there. Humans are always looking for the next challenge, to try do something that hasn't been done. Or maybe information gathered from Mars can somehow benefit earth. Some think that space travel is a great way to inspire kids to become scientist or work in a science field. Business is also a consideration, if the atmosphere on Mars could help lead to a medical breakthrough a lot of companies will become rich.
Mars is an unknown, just like all space travel. Before Mars, the Moon was the goal. Many trips have been made to the Moon, but where are the concrete benefits? Where is that major human advancement that can be credited to the Moon? The one thing that is known, is the tremendous amount of money it takes to send spacecrafts to Mars. There always seems to be enough money to investigate the solar system, or start a war, but there's never enough to help people who really need it.
