NASA photos from Viking (1976) and Mars Global Surveyor (1998, 2001).
George sent me a link to Dr. Tom's web page which claims there is a GREAT deal of evidence that the 3-mile long "face" on Mars (first photographed by the Vikig Orbiter over 25 years ago) is, in fact, an artificial feature. Dr. Tom has a general Cydonia page here, where he has added analysis of the newest photos taken in April of this year. SPACE.COM also has a report on the newest photos, and report on the use of a laser altimeter by the NASA scientists. This allowed them to create a 3D elevation map which is vertically precise to within 12 inches.
Another group who believes the face is artificial (The Enterprise Mission) takes NASA to task over their use of the laser altimiter here.
I mentioned that the film Mission to Mars also claims the face is real. In the film, the face initially looks just like the real one on Mars... but then a big storm blows all the dust and rock away, and we see the REAL face! Cool, but I don't buy it... of course this is just from a movie! The face may indeed be an artifact.
after: Face revealed (in the movie)
(I got these pictures from a site which tries to debunk bad science and conspiracy theories called Bad Astronomy. The site is very interesting! It is maintained by a High School science teacher who just wants to set things straight. He goes over the top sometimes, but it is generally entertaining and informative.)
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