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Cydonia (Mars)

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Image:Martian face viking cropped.jpg

Image:Viking moc face 20m.gif

Mars Global Surveyor high-resolution photo of the "Face on Mars" (North is to the upper left)

Cydonia Mensae is an albedo feature (region) on Mars. It lies in the planet's northern hemisphere in a transitional zone between the heavily-cratered regions to the south and relatively smooth plains to the North. Cydonia itself is covered in numerous mesas and may have been a coastal zone if planetologists are correct in believing that the northern plains were once ocean beds.

One of the Cydonian mesas, situated at 30°45' north latitude and 9°26' west longitude, took on the striking appearance of a human Face on Mars in a photo taken by Viking 1 on July 25, 1976. It is generally understood to be an optical illusion, an example of pareidolia. A few, most notably Richard C. Hoagland, believe it to be evidence of a long-lost Martian civilization along with other features they believe are present, such as apparent pyramids, which they argue are part of a ruined city. NASA has stated however that "a detailed analysis of multiple images of this feature reveals a natural-looking Martian hill whose illusory face-like appearance depends on viewing angle and angle of illumination."<ref>http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_60.html</ref> More recent pictures by the Mars Global Surveyor seem only to confirm the validity of this scientific opinion.<ref>for example [1] in 1998, [2] in 2001</ref><ref>see [3] for a close-up from 2001 and [4]</ref> On September 21, 2006, the European Space Agency published new photographs of the Cydonia region taken by the Mars Express probe.<ref>http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM09F8LURE_index_0.html</ref> The new images are at a resolution of less than 14 m/pixel (46 ft/pixel).

On October 23, 2006, the European Space Agency published a 3D animation of the "Face on Mars" using a combination of digital data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on the Mars Express probe and the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on board NASA's Mars Global Surveyor.<ref>http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMINCO7BTE_0.html</ref>

Originally, eighteen images of the Cydonia Mensae region were taken by the Viking 1 and 2 orbiters, but only seven have resolutions better than 250 m/pixel (820 ft/pixel). The other eleven images have resolutions worse than 550 m/pixel (1800 ft/pixel) and are virtually useless for studying the feature. Of the seven good images, the lighting and time at which two pairs of images were taken are so close as to reduce the number to five usable, distinct images. The Mission to Mars: Viking Orbiter Images of Mars CD-ROM image numbers are: 35A72 (VO-1010), 70A13 (VO-1011), 561A25 (VO-1021), 673B56 & 673B54 (VO-1063), and 753A33 & 753A34 (VO-1028).

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Mars Express: Return to Cydonia Astronomy Picture of the Day: 2006 September 26
New high-resolution images of Cydonia taken by the HRSC experiment on ESA orbiter Mars Express
Discussion of MOC and "Face on Mars" From Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS), regarding history, acknowledgment of conspiracy theories, and plans for the Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter Camera. See also MSSS's Face on Mars images and videos
Hoagland at UN - Cydonia Connection - A very interesting Conference Video held at the UN about the Mars Cydonia area and its connection with structures here on Earth in Egypt. The Pyramids, Sphinx and more.
Hoagland discussion/debunking at Bad Astronomy - A discussion of the science and pseudoscience of Cydonia.
The Hidden Records - Official website of the book by Wayne Herschel.
The Enterprise Mission - Hoagland's Official Website.