At this very hour, the Mars exploration rover Spirit is searching for evidence of life beyond the Earth.

CNN: Bush: 'It is time for America to take the next steps' in space

Every landing we've had on Mars since Viking 30 years ago - Mars Pathfinder, even the Mars-exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity - were based on Viking technology.

NPR: Revisiting the Viking Missions to Mars

"You take what Mars gives you, " said Squyres, also the lead scientist on the Mars Exploration Rover Mission, which includes Spirit and Opportunity.

CNN: Rover Curiosity near Mars landing

Before Curiosity, NASA's big rover project was the Mars Exploration Rover Mission: two golf-cart-sized rovers called Spirit and Opportunity.

CNN: What we've done on Mars, and what's next

But the curator of a National Museum of Wales exhibition to mark the centenary of Scott reaching the South Pole, believes that the Welsh obsession with polar exploration had very little to do with the nation's pioneering spirit, or even the charismatic Robert Falcon Scott.

BBC: Scott of Antarctic 'propaganda created Welsh obsession'