Long before the existence of spacecraft, people were dreaming about the day when exploring Mars would be possible. Even the most sophisticated, high-powered telescopes could not reveal close enough views of the red planet to thoroughly understand it. For that, it would take powerful rockets that could blast off from Earth, spiral millions of miles through space, and get close enough to Mars to actually study it.

Rocket Science

One person who dreamed of Mars exploration from a young age was Robert Goddard. After reading H.G. Wells's novel War of the Worlds, Goddard had become enchanted with the idea of space flight. At the age of sixteen he recorded his thoughts in a diary: "It was one of the quiet, colorful afternoons of sheer beauty which we have in October in New England, and as I looked toward the fields at the east...