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C. Schiaparelli described seeing dark lines on the surface of Mars which he called “canali,” meaning marks or channels. His observations were misinterpreted into English as canals, setting off a wave of speculation and fiction about intelligent life on Mars. Later observations by astronomers and spacecraft showed the “canali” to be an optical illusion.
A. Mars’ atmosphere is about 100 times thinner than Earth’s, but it still is thick enough to burn up any spacecraft without a heavy heatshield that must be ejected. The atmosphere is too thin for a parachute to slow down a craft enough for landing, so retro-thrusters are needed to safely land. It was believed Schiaparelli’s thrusters failed to fire long enough.
B. The United States has had the most success with Mars missions and has two rovers still operational on the surface as well as three orbiters still transmitting data. In 1971, the former Soviet Union landed a craft on Mars but it failed after 20 seconds. The Russian-dominated Soviet Union was the first nation to orbit a spacecraft and send a man into space.
D. The Trace Gas Orbiter was built by Russia for the joint mission with the European Space Agency (ESA). The ESA has another operational Mars orbiter which released an earlier lander in 2003. That craft reached the surface but failed to communicate. India has a functioning Mars orbiter. Japan’s 1998 orbiter spacecraft ran out of fuel before reaching Mars.