[escepticos] [ASTRO] The 'Face On Mars'

["Víctor R. Ruiz" <rvr@...>]

>http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/facts/HTML/FS-016-HQ.html
>
>                             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.
>
>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.
>
>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 photos 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).
>
>                                                        Sun
> Picno     Scale     Emission   Incidence   Phase    Elevation   Period of
>         (m/pixel)     (deg)      (deg)     (deg)                   Day
>                                                       (deg)
> 035A7247.13        10.53      79.89       86.26   10.11        morning
> 070A1343.42        12.36      62.61       71.77   27.39        morning
> 561A25162.7        32.83      76.59       45.63   13.41        morning
> 753A33232.82       10.25      35.3        25.12   54.7         afternoon
> 753A34232.51       10.13      35.15       25.14   54.85        afternoon
> 814A07848.86       38.15      65.93       103.25  24.07        too low
> 257S69821.24       42.06      43.83       8.66    46.17        cloudy
> 673B54226.02       23.22      64.94       77.76   25.06        morning
> 673B56225.7        21.33      67.77       76.7    22.23        morning
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>NASA Headquarters
>Public Affairs Office
>Washington DC 20546-001
>Email: eweigel en hq.nasa.gov
>
>Document: FS-1995-08-016-HQ
>Modified: August 1995
>
>

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Víctor R. Ruiz                rvr en idecnet.com
   Agrupación Astronómica de Gran Canaria
  Sociedad de Meteoros y Cometas de España
info.astro  http://www.astrored.org/infoastro
http://ccdis.dis.ulpgc.es:8086/AAGC/aagc.html
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