In 1976 NASA's Viking 1 took a photo of a landform that resembled a face. This excited the public. NASA has gone back to that place twice and taken higer defenition photos to make sure that it is not a face or some monument made by aliens. They have fond that it is a common landform, a mesa or butte. If it were more, NASA would tell the public right away. News of life on Mars would excite the public, and provide NASA with funding for future explorations.

The first photo of the landform was taken in 1976 by Viking 1. Each pixel in the photo represents 43 meaters. It is difficult to see deitalies in this photo. NASA believed that it was thier duty to make sure this was not a sign of extraterestrial life. In 1998, Mars Orbiter Camera took a picture ten times sharper than the original. This picture showed more deatail, but the public was not satisfied. In 2001 NASA took another photo of the spot. In this photo a pixel is equal to 1.56 meters. This image is so sharp that if anything unusual were there, you could see it.

Mesas are a common landform in that area. Cydonia, where the Face is located has lots of other landforms like mesas and buttes. Simaler landforms are also found on earth. Landforms come in all different shapes and sizes, and this one happens to resemble a face. That is not unusual, we like to find thing that look like other things. For example you might see a cloud and say it looks like a bunny. Likewise we see a landform and say it resembles a face.

The Face, "a huge rock formation...resembles a human head", but this is pure coincedence. the shape of the formation forms shadows giving the illusion of eyes, a nose, and a mouth. NASA has taken very detailed photographs to make sure there is not alien life. The Face on Mars is a mesa or butte, a common formation. If there was life on Mars NASA wouldn't hide it, it would excite people about space and provide money for future explorations.