Unmasking the Face on Mars

"Ocean advocates say the mesas are just what you would expect to see near the edge of the water ... that is, free-standing eroded landforms," says Garvin. "But there are many possibilities." The mesas could have been gouged by glaciers, carved by winds and water, or thrust upward by vertical tectonics. "We simply don't know."

Cydonia (labelledblue) inhabits a transition zone between southern highlands and a northern plain that perhaps once contained a Martian ocean. Click for the full Mars Atlas.

Perhaps the best way to unravel the mystery would be to send a geologist to investigate. And Garvin, an enthusiastic climber, wouldn't mind going himself.

"I can imagine myself staring up at this 800-foot-high mass of rock with steep flanks," he says, "the same as Middle Butte in Idaho. An apron of boulders around the base would make the climb difficult [for a robot], but a human could do it well." The latest MGS images of the Face are so detailed that Garvin already knows what route he would take - he's even prepared a trail map! "The start and midsection of the hike would be easy, with some steep flanks in between. It would take about two hours to reach the summit."

"From there the view would be spectacular," he continued. "To the south the ground would slope upwards, toward the highlands. To the north the terrain would descend toward the plains. Looking around you would see a barren landscape dotted with buttes, mesas, and impact craters," a curious mix of the bizarre and the familiar.

"Mars is a special place, it reminds us of home ... one day we are going to go there," says Garvin. That's why the Face on Mars was so popular: it reinforced that connection. But even without an alien monument, there will be plenty for future explorers to do. Climbing the mesas of Cydonia -if that's where we start- will be just the beginning.

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