In the year of 1976, an object was discovered that looked like a human face on the planet Mars. NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft was circling around Mars and taking pictures of possible places for Viking 2 to land. This 'human head' as they call it stretched two miles from each end of Mars. The passage states, "It seemed to be staring back at the cameras from a region of the Red Planet called Cydonia." NASA believed that there must have been a degree suprise among the mission controlers at the Jet Propulsion Lab when this 'Face' appeared on their monitor screens.

Days after this what seemed to be 'human face' was released for all to see. The authors say, "It would be a good way to engage the public and attract attention to Mars." It did! NASA decided to call it "Face on Mars." This 'Face' became a popular icon throughout the world. The text states, "It has starred in a Hollywood film, appeared in books, magazines, radio talk shows-even haunted grocery store checkout lines for 25 years!" This object on Mars lead people to think that maybe there really was life on Mars.

When the MGS arrived at the Red Planet in September of 1997, 18 years after the Viking missions ended photogrpahing, Cydonia was still a big priority for NASA. Chief scientist, Jim Garvin says, "We photographed the Face as soon as we could get a good shot at it." Jim believed it was important to taxpayers. One year later on April 5, 1998, Mars Global Surveyor flew over Cydonia for the first time takig a picture that was ten times sharper and more clear than the photos taken by Viking. Thousands of people were waiting for the picture of the Face to appear on their monitor screens any minute.

Not everyone was satisfied with the picture of the Face that was taken that day. The author states, "The camera on board MGS had to peer through wispy clouds to see the Face." The mission controllers were prepared to look again and noted, "It's not easy to target Cyndonia," says Garvin. "In fact, it's hard work." NASA does not pass over the Face very often, in fact, they scan the planet in 2.5 narrow strips.

On April 8, 2001, MGS drew close enough for a second look at the Face. Jim Garvin states, "Malin's team captured an extraordinary photo using the camera's absolute maximum resolution." The picture shows the Martian equivalent of a butte or mesa which are landforms common around the American West. The passage states, "You can discern things in a digital image 3 times bigger than the pixel size." If there were any objects in the picture taken of the Face in 2001 like an airplane or the ground or a house or pyramid, you could definitely be able to see them!

The Face found on the planet Mars is an extraordinary icon that will always be popular. Few believe that the Face could have been an alien artifact. The picture that was released for all to see noted, "huge rock formation...which resembles a human head... formed by shadows giving the illusion of eyes, nose, and mouth." Could there really be life on Mars? It is possible.