No face on Mars

Fabulous photos, but an approach that’s as dry as the planet’s surface, says Jerry Glover

Mars Photographs from the NASA Archives Nikki Giovanni et al Taschen 2024 Hb, 340pp, £50, ISBN 97836586467 Who remembers when the Sunday Sport put the Face on Mars image on its front page? The implication that Mars once had a civilization felt like the most incredible discovery ever (and wasn’t it also discussed on Radio Four’s Today programme?) In hindsight, it was consistent with the imaginative allure Mars has always held for us; our era’s Martian canals. Despite upholding the fallacy that Elon Musk is “the founder” of PayPal and Tesla Inc. and giving a free pass to his possibly over-optimistic vision of a Mars colony, the opening essay on two centuries of Mars culture encapsulates its allure along with paintings, photographs and movie posters inspired by it. The next…

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Fortean Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 455

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