Mars and the Mind of Man

On November 12, 1971, the day before NASA’s Mariner 9 mission reached Mars and became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, Caltech Planetary Science professor Bruce Murray summoned a panel of thinkers to discuss the implications of the historic event. The panel included Carl Sagan and science fiction icons Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke in a conversation moderated by New York Times science editor Walter Sullivan. What unfolded was a quilt of perspectives on the relationship between mankind and the cosmos, the importance of space exploration, and the future of our civilization. Two years later, the record of this conversation was released in Mars and the Mind of Man, alongside early images of Mars taken by Mariner 9 and a selection of “afterthoughts” by the panelists, looking back on the historic achievement.