INSIDE THE SKY AT NIGHT

With the May episode of The Sky at Night looking at all things Mars, presenter George Dransfield asks why so many people are drawn to the Red Planet

- George Dransfield

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Mars? I ask because that dusty red rock has been a documented feature of human culture for at least four millennia, so I think most people will have a 'thing' they immediately associate with the planet. For me, it's Jeff Wayne's synthy masterpiece adaptation of HG Wells's The War of the Worlds. Specifically, the first track (although all of it is excellent). More specifically: "but still... they come." If you've never heard it, pause your reading here and go listen; I guarantee you nine minutes of giddy goosebumps.

Our crimson planetary sibling loves a bit of media attention, both factual and fictional. Mars Attacks!? Fictional. Interesting black specks on rocks that could be evidence of long-ago microbial activity? Factual. A fella across the pond saying he will have colonised Mars within a decade? Factual that he said it, but otherwise very much fictional.