I believe the face ia a natural landform because other planets have rock formations that look like certain things but now that there is one that looks like a face they think that it is alien related. As stated in the text," ...few scientist thought that it was an alien artifact...". There could be no alien relations to it. It could just be a rock formation that formed itself into a face over time.

As stated in the text,"A few days later NASA unveiled the image for all to see." So basically NASA wanted to put it out in the public to get publicity and to attract attention. As stated in the text,"...it would be a good way to engage the public and attract attention to Mars." So as the end result it did attract attention and it became a pop icon.

it turned out that alot of people were wrong because as staed in the text,"...when the image first appeared on a JPL web site,revealing...a natural landform."there turned out to be no alien monument at all. So most peoples theory about it being alien related was wrong and they found that out once they saw the website. It was just a unique landform on Mars almost like most planets.