But the wonderful thing is that 46 years later, the original Planet of the Apes (not the awful 2001 remake) is still a perfect metaphor for our world.

FORBES: Yes, The Middle East is Like Planet of the Apes

This has enabled scientists to estimate the volume of water in the ice cap and speculate that much of the planet's original water is either hidden below the surface or missing.

BBC: By BBC News Online Science Editor Dr David Whitehouse

Best of all, the probe found that, although Schiaperelli's original canali were indeed an artefact of his telescope, the planet did have canyons and what appeared to be networks of valleys that seemed to have been carved by water flows aeons ago.

ECONOMIST: Martian chronicles