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Of all the planets, none has captured the world's imagination like Mars. Its reddish colour and changes in brightness over time make the planet an unforgettable sight.

In Cosmos, the television science series from the 1980s, scientist Carl Sagan talked about some traditional ideas about Mars. Some of these ideas are from the English science fiction writer H. G. Well's The War of the Worlds. Others are from the mistaken science of Percival Lowell, the American astronomer who believed intelligent beings lived on Mars. Wells described Martians as threatening. Lowell imagined them as the hopeful engineers of great works. Carl Sagan said that both ideas influenced the public deeply.

Today, Mars continues to excite humans—not as the object of science fiction but of scientific study. Space scientists have collected a wealth of information from spacecrafts that have orbited, landed on and dug into the Martian surface.

The Smithsonian's "Mars Day" offered a chance for people of all ages to touch Mars, or at least a piece of it. Allison and Alycia from Silver Spring, Maryland, brought their children, Grace, Sam, Ryan and Emma. They heard about Mars and its geology from experts. They could see a test version of the Viking landers that reached Mars in July of 1976. They also saw meteorites（陨星）known to have come from the red, or reddish planet. Eight-year-old Sam learned that the ancient description of Mars as red is not exactly right. He said, “It's actually orangish more than red and it's also kind of brown, too.” Emma is six. She learned about the volcanic activity that has shaped the surface of Mars. She said, “The closest thing to Mars—the stuff—is from volcanoes mostly.”

“Mars Day” offered Allison and Alycia's children a chance to learn more about a world that they are very likely to set foot on within their lifetimes.