The Face on Mars is a natural landform and not something that was created by aliens. The Face is a natural landform because the sharper pictures that were taken after the Viking photos revealed that it was a natural landform. Secondly, the scientists had taken another photograph which helped confirm what exactly the Face was. Also, the text states that the Face is "equivalent of a butte or mesa." Although some people think that the Face was created by aliens, there isn't enough information to support that claim.

First of all, Michael Malin and his Mars Orbiter Camera team flew over Cydonia in 1998. According to the passage, they "snapped a picture ten times sharper than the original Viking photos." This means that this camera probably caught eye of more objects and got a more detailed idea of what this formation looks like. The Viking photos weren't as detailed, so the people who saw those photos originally got the idea that aliens had created it. The picture that was captured had revealed that this was, in fact, a natural landform.

Secondly, the Mars Global Surveyor went back to Cydonia on a cloudless day, since some people were second-guessing if the picture was accurate or not. According to the text, "Malin's team captured an extraordinary photo using the camera's absolute maximum resolution," meaning that they could retrieve even more detailed objects. For example, the story says that if there were objects like shacks or airplanes, then they could see what they were. Also, the text states that "each pixel in the 2001 image spans 1.56 meters, compared to 43 meters per pixel in the best 1976 Viking photo." People could trust these pictures and what scientists say that it is a natural landform because these photographs were very detailed.

Lastly, the very detailed photograph that was taken showed that the Face was equivalent to a butte or mesa. Butte and mesas are landforms that are commonly found around the American West. According to the passage, Garvin compared the Face to the Middle Butte in the Snake River Plain of Idaho. He had said "that's a lava dome that takes the form of an isolated mesa about the same height as the Face on Mars." Also, the scientists had already figured that this Face was another Martian mesa because they were commonly found around the area of Cydonia. This information is showing that the Face is most likely a landform.

The Face on Mars is a landform because of the factual evidence that was found. The cameras that were used were high quality, providing photographs that were very precise and accurate. Also, the photographs had showed that the Face was similar to formations on Earth. Therefore, all of this information concludes that the Face on Mars is indeed a landform and was not formed by aliens.