Culture
Articles, research, and analysis on Mars culture.
Mars has lived in the human imagination far longer than in our spacecraft's cameras. These articles explore how fiction, mythology, and film have shaped — and been shaped by — our real ambitions for the Red Planet.
The X-Files and the Golden Age of UFO Television
How a 1990s TV series channeled and amplified a decade of conspiracy culture, and why "I Want to Believe" became a cultural…
Area 51: The Real History Behind the Myth
Behind the alien legend, Area 51 has a documented history — as a secret facility for testing some of the most advanced…
Bob Lazar and the Element 115 Story
A case study in how an unverifiable claim spreads: the man who said he reverse-engineered alien craft, and what the facts actually…
Roswell, 1947: How a Weather Balloon Became a Legend
The founding myth of modern UFO belief began with a real event in New Mexico — and grew, decades later, into the…
From Flying Saucers to UAP: How the Government Changed Its Tune
In recent years the U.S. government has openly acknowledged unexplained aerial phenomena. Here is what is actually documented — and what remains…
Close Encounters and Cinema: How Hollywood Shaped the Alien
From menacing invaders to gentle visitors, film created the visual language of the alien — and that imagery fed back into what…
The Real Science Behind The Martian: What Andy Weir Got Right
Andy Weir's novel and Ridley Scott's film adaptation are remarkably accurate about Mars science. Here's what the real data says about dust…
If Total Recall's Mars Were Real: A Scientific Breakdown
Total Recall imagined a colonized Mars with breathable air, bustling cities, and a giant alien reactor. Here's what the 1990 film got…
What Elon Musk and Kim Stanley Robinson Agree On (And Don't)
The world's most famous Mars booster and its most celebrated literary chronicler share surprising common ground — and revealing fault lines. Here's…
Mars in Ancient Mythology: The War God That Became Our Destination
Long before rovers and rocket equations, Mars captivated human imagination as a blood-red deity of war. Explore how ancient cultures interpreted the…
The History of Mars in Science Fiction: From Wells to Weir
Mars has haunted the human imagination for over a century. Trace how science fiction's version of the Red Planet evolved alongside real…
10 Mars Books Every Space Fan Should Read
From hard science fiction to astronaut memoirs, these ten books will deepen your understanding of Mars exploration, space science, and the human…
The Expanse Got Mars Right — Here's How
The Expanse is widely praised as the most scientifically grounded Mars fiction ever made. Here's how its depiction of Martian culture, physiology,…
Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars: The Novel That Took Mars Seriously
Published in 1992, Red Mars remains the most ambitious and scientifically rigorous piece of Mars fiction ever written. Thirty years later, it…