Research conducted by a small group of scientists in America since 1979 has suggested a most exciting possibility - the remains of artificially designed structures. M ankind's last wholly successful voyage to Mars was NASA's robotic Viking mission in 1976. Twin orbiters and landers investigated the geology, chemistry, meteorology and possible biology of the Red planet. Whilst soil chemistry tests were ambiguous, more than 50,000 digital images of Martian geomorphology were returned from orbit. Most of the planet has now been mapped to a resolution of 100m, and, in some places, 10m.
T here is ample evidence that the Martian climate was in the past more benign than today.
Eroded river channels, evidence of glaciation and perhaps even ancient lake and sea beds have all been seen in Viking images. An ocean may have occupied most of the northern hemisphere. There has been speculation that the features at Cydonia lie on the edge of this ancient northern sea. Certainly if the Cydonia remains are artificial, proximity to water would be expected. Water and oxygen may have existed in the area abundantly over one billion years ago.