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The first images of Mars found their way back to Earth from NASA\u2019s Mariner 4 mission on 15th July, 1965 - and were simultaneously revelatory and disappointing.\nDelivered as binary code, rendered in black and white, and revealing only 1% of the planet, the photos were coloured in by hand and showed no evidence of life. But they played a significant part in the scientific understanding of the Red Planet for years to come.\nIn this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca compare the computing power of the 1960s with \u2018lame\u2019 Victorian telescopes; reveal the surprisingly recent date that the first ever colour image of Mars was committed to camera; and explain how a mis-translation from Italian lead H.G. Wells to think there may be Martian waterways...\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 Mariner 4 at NASA.gov: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mariner-4\n\u2022 \u2018Men Encounter Mars\u2019 (NASA documentary, 1965): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKVzepl-2zY\n\u2022 \u2018First Mission To Mars: Mariner 4\u2019s Special Place in History\u2019 (Cosmos, 2017): https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/first-mission-to-mars-mariner-4-s-special-place-in-history/\nFor bonus material and to support the show, visit\xa0Patreon.com/Retrospectors\nWe'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:\xa0podfollow.com/RetrospectorsThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.\n#60s #Discoveries #Science #Technology #US\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices