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From: Stig_Agermose@online.pol.dk (Stig Agermose)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 22:13:30 +0200
Fwd Date: Wed, 08 Apr 1998 18:56:30 -0400
Subject: NASA's 'Face' Fact Sheet

Go to

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/facts/HTML/FS-016-HQ.html

The links are preceded by asterisks.

Stig

*******

The "Face On Mars"

Background: The Viking Images

The Viking missions to Mars in the late 1970s produced more
information about the Red Planet than had been gathered in all
the previous centuries of study by Earth-bound astronomers and
observers. The primary mission of the Viking program was to
search for signs of life on the surface of Mars. Two landers
containing sophisticated biological laboratories studied soil
samples in a variety of tests which, it was hoped, would prove or
disprove the existence of life.

The results of these tests indicated that Mars contained no life,
at least at these landing sites. However, Viking gathered volumes
of data on the weather, soil chemistry and other surface
properties and mapped the surface using low-to-moderate
resolution cameras on the two orbiters.

Shortly after mapping began in 1976 an interesting image taken by
the Viking 1 Orbiter was received at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., which contained a surface feature
resembling a human or ape-like face. The photo was immediately
released to the public as an interesting geological feature and
dubbed the "*Face on Mars." Shortly afterwards other photos of
the same area were taken, and some scientists believed that the
formation appeared to be a face due to the lighting angles as
seen from the Orbiter.


Origin Of Features Examined

Over the years, some people began to raise questions about the
origins of the features. A few ideas and theories arose
speculating that the features may have been built by aliens in
the distant past. These theories are based largely on the results
of computer photo enhancements and other analytical techniques
performed on the Viking images beginning in the early 1980s.

Most planetary geologists familiar with the set of photos,
however, concluded that the natural processes known to occur on
Mars -- such as wind erosion, Mars quakes, and erosion from
running water in the distant past -- could account for the
formation of the complicated fretted terrain of the Cydonia
region, including the face.

Because the entire data set includes only nine low-to-moderate
resolution photos, scientists say that there just is not enough
data available to justify what would be an extraordinary
conclusion that the features are not natural in origin (many
scientists question whether images alone would be enough to
settle the matter). Such a proven discovery of extraterrestrial
life or artifacts would be one of the greatest discoveries in
human history, and, as such, demand the most rigorous scientific
investigation.

However, despite the phenomenal nature of such a potential
discovery, no one in the scientific community -- either in the
U.S. or worldwide -- has ever proposed an investigation for a
mission to study these features. Until more data is gathered,
many scientists consider the probability that the features are
anything other than natural in origin are just too low to justify
the major expenditure of public funds which such an investigation
would entail (more on this below).

What is agreed on is that a greater number of high resolution
images of this area should be gathered. Following the failure of
the Mars Observer mission in August, 1993, NASA proposed a
decade-long program of Mars exploration, including orbiters and
landers. The program, called Mars Surveyor, would take advantage
of launch opportunities about every 2 years to launch an orbiter
and a lander to the Red Planet. The first mission, consisting of
an orbiter to be launched in 1996, will map the surface and take
high- and medium-resolution images of particular features on the
Martian surface that are of high interest. NASA intends to make
observations of the Cydonia region making the best effort
feasible, either with the first orbiter or on follow-on missions,
to obtain images of the "face" and nearby landforms.

Quite aside from the interest generated by these curious
features, Cydonia has long been regarded as an area of high
scientific importance, ever since the first detailed images were
returned by NASA's Viking spacecraft in the late 1970s. The
Cydonia region of Mars is part of the so-called fretted terrain,
a belt of landforms that circles Mars at about 30-40 degrees
North Latitude. In this region, the ancient crust of Mars has
been intensely eroded by weathering processes, leaving high
remnants of older crust surrounded by lower plains of eroded
debris.

The landforms of Cydonia resemble in some respects those of
terrestrial deserts, but they probably have been shaped by a
unique range of peculiarly martian agencies: wind, frost and
possibly running water in ancient times. Deciphering the
geological age and origin of this terrain will yield important
insights into the evolution of the martian surface, into the role
of ice and water in its development and into the nature of the
martian climate in times past.
=BF


Proposing Investigations


The selection of goals and scientific priorities for NASA to
undertake on future space science missions starts in the
scientific and academic communities, as well as within NASA.
Scientific associations, such as the National Academy of Science,
determine the research priorities in any given field of science.
For instance, the most important questions remaining about Mars
include gaining an understanding of the amount of water on the
planet; mapping the surface in detail to gain a complete
understanding of the geological processes, history and
composition; and gaining a global understanding of the
atmosphere, including climate and weather.

When NASA receives permission to proceed with a science mission,
the Agency publishes an Announcement of Opportunity (AO). The AO
solicits interest in providing high priority scientific
investigations and instruments that will be part of the new
mission. The AO receives the widest possible circulation
throughout the university and research communities and industry.

Proposals are submitted and reviewed through a competitive peer
review process. In this process, scientists from various
institutions and organizations evaluate each proposal's
scientific and technical merit, and then rank the relative merit
of each. NASA receives the reports of the review panels and makes
a final selection as to which instruments will be built and
actually flown. This rational selection process ensures that only
the most useful research, with a high probability of returning
good science, is done at taxpayer expense.

After selection, each Mars Surveyor Principle Investigator (PI)
team will develop its instrument, build it, test it and prepare
it for launch and the 10-month journey to Mars. They are also
charged with developing, testing, and using the software required
to properly calibrate their instrument's data. Most of the
scientists working on the various Mars Surveyor missions will
have several years invested in their instrument before the
spacecraft arrives at Mars and they can actually receive the bulk
of the data they have been waiting for.
=BF


Obtaining *Images of the "Face" and Other Planetary Data


Since the release and subsequent widespread circulation of the
'face' images, scientists and individual members of the public
have freely drawn their own conclusions about the nature and
origin of this feature. NASA encourages anyone seriously
interested in this topic to obtain the photo(s) and decide for
themselves, just as every day many hundreds of independent
researchers and scientists make use of NASA-provided data on a
variety of subjects.

The most noteworthy image of the 'face' feature is available to
the public, for a nominal fee, through Headquarters and JPL. A
photo catalogue can be provided to select images.

The phone numbers for ordering photo catologues are: HQ:
202/358-1900
JPL: 818/354-5011

All imaging data obtained by the Mars Surveyor program, as well
as other types of data, will be deposited in open data archives.
Two such archives widely used are the Planetary Data System
(PDS), an open archive accessible to thousands of scientists and
other individuals, and the National Space Science Data Center
(NSSDC) where images and other data will be readily available to
the general public (generally on CD-ROMs or as hard copy, as
appropriate), for a nominal charge that covers the materials and
time needed to produce the copies. For information about ordering
copies of NASA science mission images, including on CD-ROM
format, contact the NSSDC at:


National Space Science Data Center
Request Coordination Center
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Telephone: 301/286-6695


Listed below are the photo numbers of every image taken by Viking
of the 'face' feature and the surrounding Cydonia terrain. When
ordering from the data archive centers, refer to the Viking picno
(photo number).

<snipped, too hard to format here, Stig>


NASA Headquarters
Public Affairs Office
Washington DC 20546-001
Email: eweigel@hq.nasa.gov


Document: FS-1995-08-016-HQ
Modified: August 1995