Man has long been mesmerized by Mars. Through the ages, the red planet has inspired myths, paintings, books, movies, TV shows and much speculation about the possibility of life on the planet next door. In the information age, Mars has spawned dozens of Web sites. Here are a few of our favorites among the serious and not-so-serious:

Exploring Mars:

• NASA's Exploring Mars - A comprehensive guide to past and future missions to Mars.

• The Mars Pathfinder home page - Everything you ever wanted to know about the mission but were afraid to ask, including picture of the launch and regular updates on the status of the mission. Sponsored by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

• Pathfinder Landing Site - A clickable, zoomable maps from NASA for close-up views of probable landing sites for the Pathfinder probe.

• Today@NASA - Current NASA press information

• Planetary Data System Mars Explorer for the Armchair Astronaut - Based on photos from the Viking mission to Mars, this site generates a map of any area of the planet. It won't help you to plan a road trip to Mars but may amuse you for a while. Requires no special software.

• Live From Mars - NASA's site for students tracking the Pathfinder. NASA promises delivery of first pictures from Mars after landing and live video from Mars in November.

• Stanford International Mars Program - Information on the International Mission to Mars, to establish a permanent human presence on Mars by 2013. They're serious!

The search for life:

• Life on Mars? - A summary of research which led NASA to announce last year that it found evidence that strongly suggests primitive life may have existed on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago.

• SpaceViews Breaking News - Was There Once Life on Mars? - From the National Space Society, an independent, pro-space non-profit organization which promotes the creation of spacefaring civilization.

• SETI - the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, an organization devoted to the search for intelligent life beyond Earth more advanced than what may have been fossilized in a Mars meteorite.

About Mars:

• Mars Madness - Planning a Mars landing party? - Here's a complete guide from the National Space Society.

• Mars from The Nine Planets - A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System - A lively fact sheet on Mars by software engineer and amateur astronomer Bill Arnett. Highlights include The Mars Mission Launch Sequence -- a detailed list of Mars missions part and future from 1960-2005

• Mars Today - Check here for a simulated picture of how Mars looks at this time of year and its relation to Earth. Among the highlights, a QuickTime movie of Mars meteorological patterns over the course of a year.

• The Whole Mars Catalogue - Daily news about Mars from a broad range of publications.

• "Mars" - Percival Lowell's 1895 treatise in which he advanced his theory that Mars was criss-crossed by enormous canals. The theory was later discounted but much of what he observed about Mars 100 years ago still stands.

Mars Snapshots:

• The NSSDC Photo Gallery - close-up and distant pictures of Mars from NASA's National Space Science Data Center

• The Mars Page - from International Systems Research, a rich archive of Mars related photos, video clips and audio files including the "Mars" composition from Gustav Holst's "The Planets."

• The Face on Mars - a scientific analysis and discussion of the 1976 image taken by the Viking Orbiter that has a striking resemblance to a human face. Some argue the structure was artificially shaped.

Mars on Earth:

• Mars Meteorite Home Page - Photos and information on the 12 known Mars meteorites, including ALH84001, the rock that launched a couple of ships.

Mars Sci-Fi:

• Pulp writer and Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs also chronicled the adventures of Earth's John Carter, the Warlord of the Red Planet. More than 20 of Burroughs' books including "A Princess of Mars," "The Gods of Mars," "Warlord of Mars," and "Thuvia, Maid of Mars" are available online at Project Gutenberg.

• War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells classic alien invasion tale later broadcast as a radio play which many mistook for a news bulletin.

• Mars Attacks! - In case you missed the movie, check in here. Beware the push audio for those sneak surfing at work.

• Marvin the Martian Home Page - A collection of sounds and images starring the spunky animated space traveler.

Usenet newsgroups:

• sci.space.science

• sci.astro