Published: June 27, 2013

On Oct. 30, 1938, millions of radio listeners in the United States were stunned to hear that Earth was under attack by Martians. Panicked listeners packed their cars and fled the cities. Many were reportedly treated for shock and hysteria. What they were hearing was a radio play of H.G. Wells’ science fiction novel The War of the Worlds.

Seventy-five years later, a University of Colorado Boulder-led mission will launch in November to learn more about the Red Planet, which has captured the public’s imagination and intrigued scientists for years. Read more in the current issue of the Coloradan.