The Face On Mars
And other conspiracy theories. The European Space Agency has taken super high resolution photographs of the odd terrain feature on Mars that resembles a face. The "face" dates all the way back to pictures NASA released back in 1976. Using the high resolution imaging equipment on the Mars Express, scientists are trying to show that the formation is just a natural phenomenon.
NASA started it all back in 1976 with an image of an interesting mountain on Mars and a caption that described it as appearing to have eyes and nostrils.
Thirty years later, the Face on Mars still inspires myths and conspiracy theories.
A new set of images from the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter will confirm for many that the features are natural, while no doubt offering tantalizing "clues" to others of an ancient intelligent civilization at work.
The spacecraft's High Resolution Stereo Camera provides data the researchers turn into colorized perspective views, which simulate the scene as though you were flying high over the region in an aircraft. The data was obtained in July and the images released today.
"They not only provide a completely fresh and detailed view of an area so famous to fans of space myths all around the world, but also provide an impressive close-up over an area of great interest for planetary geologists, and show once more the high capability of the Mars Express camera," said Agustin Chicarro, ESA Mars Express project scientist.
The feature known as the Face, along another skull-like feature and pyramid-looking hills in the vicinity, are in an area called Cydonia in the Arabia Terra region. It is a transition zone between the southern highlands and the northern plains, and it contains wide valleys and ancient remnant mounds, called massifs, of many shapes and sizes.
They have all the pretty pictures over at Space.com. (They are amazing, by the way). But since we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that rocket fuel will not melt rock and that on Wednesday 1973 Operation Short Sheet occurred at Camp Winitonka and that all hamsters are not named "Frank", we can categorically confirm that they are lying to us.
We here at Blue Crab Boulevard have obtained the real, honest to goodness, Reuters Quality™ picture to prove it, too. Using our fearless operatives at Magic 8-Ball Cut Rate Space Exploration and Karaoke Lounge, Inc. we have obtained the picture that the government does not want you to see.
AT LAST THE TRUTH IS OUT. Elvis may have left the building, but he hasn't left the Solar System.
Foto Phun, Humor, Space, Uncategorized | Gaius Thursday, 21 September , 2006
By TC@LeatherPenguin, Thursday, 21 September , 2006 @ 12:03 pm
Hamsters, Hamshers… gerbils, dude. It was the gerbils that were in on it!