Illustration of water channels on Mars as predicted by Percival Lowell in 1900. Lowell (1855-1916) was an American businessman, author, mathematician and astronomer who fuelled the speculations on water channels on Mars. He founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. For 15 years he studied Mars extensively and made intricate drawings of what he perceived to be channel systems on the planets surface. He was sure that there was intelligent life on the red planet.