Christiaan Huygens
Christian Huygens didn't exactly discover mars, but he did discover the "Syrtis Major." He discovered this strange feature in 1659. Since then, people have been scared of martians, because of this strange discovery. in 1663, he was elected a member of the Royal Society, a newly formed scientific academy (which is till around today). He was a contemporary of fellow member Sir Issac Newton.