![]() ![]() Mosaic created from images taken by the Viking orbiter, showing landforms in Cydonia with popular, informal names. These consisted predominately of more ‘pyramids’ that are arranged in a circular pattern around a series of smaller rocky features, known as the “City Square” (see below). Last, but not least, there is also the area to the north of the “Face” that was dubbed “the city”, because of its supposed resemblance to a series of monuments. Richard Hoagland, a famous conspiracy theorist, dubbed it the “D&M Pyramid” (in honor of DiPietro and Molenaar), a name which stuck. One in particular, a 500 meter-tall mountain located to the south-west, was especially geometric in shape. In addition, DiPeitro and Molenaar noticed several mountains near the “Face” that had angular peaks, which they referred to as “ pyramids“. From 1982 onward, these images would lead widespread speculation about what could have caused it, and fueled interest in the possible existence of a civilization on Mars. Vincent DiPietro and Gregory Molenaar, two computer engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, independently discovered this image while searching through the NASA archives. But a second image, acquired 35 orbits later at a different angle, confirmed the existence of the “Face of Mars”. At the time, the NASA science team dismissed this as a “trick of light and shadow”. This 2 km long mesa, which was first photographed by the Viking 1 orbiter on July 25th, 1976, initially was thought to resemble a human face. Credit: NASA/JPL Notable Features:Īs already noted, Cydonia’s best known feature is the famous “ Face of Mars“. A section of the Cydonia region, taken by the Viking 1 orbiter and released on July 25, 1976. After analyzing images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor, NASA declared that “a detailed analysis of multiple images of this feature reveals a natural looking Martian hill whose illusory face-like appearance depends on the viewing angle and angle of illumination”. These included NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor, which orbited Mars from 1997 to 2006 the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which reached the planet in 2006 and is still in operation and the ESA’s Mars Express probe – which has been in orbit since 2003.Įach of these missions provided images of Cydonia which were much better in terms of resolution and debunked the existence of an artificial “Face of Mars” feature. It would be another 20 years before other spacecraft photographed the region as they conducted observations of Mars. Because of their limited quality, a particular mesa resembled a humanoid face (see below). ![]() Of these, only five were considered suitable for studying surface features. Between the two, eighteen images were taken of the region, all of which were of limited resolution. Exploration:Ĭydonia was first photographed by the Viking 1 and 2 orbiters. The name – like many featured on Mars – is drawn from classical antiquity in this case, from the historic city-state of Kydonia, which was located on the island of Crete. Credit: NASA/JPLīecause of its geographical location, it is possible that Cydonia was once a coastal plain region, billions of years ago when the northern hemisphere of Mars is believed to have been covered with water. Image of the Cydonia region under infrared light taken by the Viking 1 orbiter. The area includes the regions of flat-topped mesa-like featured (“Cydonia Mensae”), a region of small hills or knobs, (“Cydonia Colles”) and a complex of intersecting valleys (“Cydonia Labyrinthus”). The area called Cydonia is in the northern hemisphere of Mars, in between the heavily cratered regions of the south (the Arabia Terra highlands) and the smooth plains to the north (Acidalia Planitia). The most famous of these is the “Face of Mars”, which has attracted immense scientific and popular curiosity over the past few decades. Located in the northern hemisphere, this region of Mars is known for its many interesting land forms. Nowhere has this tendency of seeing what we want to see on the surface of Mars been made more clean than with the Cydonia region. ![]() Even today, crystal-clear images sent directly from the surface by rovers are still the subject of pareidolia – where people see familiar patterns in random features. Even sinceGiovanni Schiaparelli first announced that he had observed the “Martian Canals” in 1877, the Red Planet has been a source of endless speculation. The surface of Mars has been the subject of fascination for centuries. ![]()
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