If you read science fiction, especially the vintage science fiction of the ’50s and ’60s, or modern pseudo-science, you will find Mars is often home to extraterrestrial life. And not infrequently, these Martians are hostile to Earthlings. June 13, Mars reaches opposition, the point in its orbit where it’s closest to Earth and brightest in our sky. With Mars so prominent in the night sky, the question of life on the Red Planet seems a natural topic of inquiry.