In 1976, NASA’s Viking 1 spacecraft made history by landing on Mars and capturing a photograph that some interpret as evidence of past life on the Red Planet. The idea of extraterrestrial life is undeniably intriguing.
The Viking 1 lander took the historic first photograph from Mars’ surface on July 20, 1976. Shortly after, on July 25, it photographed what became known as the ‘Face of Mars,’ which NASA describes as a ‘shadowy likeness of a human face.’
See the image below:
This ‘enormous head,’ nearly two miles long, appeared to be gazing back at the camera from an area on Mars known as Cydonia, as detailed on NASA’s website. Shadows on the rock formation created an illusion of facial features, which captivated space enthusiasts when the image was released.
NASA intended for the photograph to engage the public’s interest in Mars. The agency stated: “Some people think the Face is bona fide evidence of life on Mars – evidence that NASA would rather hide, say conspiracy theorists. Meanwhile, defenders of the NASA budget wish there was an ancient civilization on Mars.”
However, the reality behind the image is less extraordinary. According to NASA, “The speckled appearance of the image is due to missing data, called bit errors, caused by problems in transmission of the photographic data from Mars to Earth. Bit errors comprise part of one of the ‘eyes’ and ‘nostrils’ on the eroded rock that resembles a human face near the center of the image.”
The structure itself is similar to a butte or mesa, common landforms in the western United States.
Years later, on April 5, 1998, the Mars Global Surveyor captured another image of Cydonia, and on April 8, 2001, it returned for a second, more detailed examination using high-resolution imaging.
In the 2001 image, each pixel represents 1.56 meters, a significant improvement over the 43 meters per pixel in the 1976 photo. As shown above, the face-like features were absent in the newer image.
While this particular rock formation on Mars may not be what some imagined, the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe remains open. Perhaps one day, the mysteries of the cosmos will reveal themselves.