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Face on Mars Gets a Make-Over
Posted by
CowboyNeal
on Fri Sep 22, 2006 07:13 AM
from the pretty-gods-of-war dept.
from the pretty-gods-of-war dept.
Alien54 writes "ESA's Mars Express has obtained images of the Cydonia region, site of the famous 'Face on Mars.' using the High Resolution Stereo Camera. After multiple attempts to image the Cydonia region from April 2004 until July 2006 were frustrated by altitude and atmospheric dust and haze, the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board Mars Express finally obtained, on 22 July, a series of images that show the famous 'face' on Mars in unprecedented detail, with a ground resolution of approximately 13.7 metres per pixel."
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"Puddles" of Water Sighted on Mars 237 comments
eldavojohn writes "Further reinforcing the theory of a wet Mars, NewScientist is reporting on what appear to be water puddles in newly taken images from the Mars rover. While these results are controversial, the assumption that these blue 'puddles' are water still has to be tested by engineers. They'll try to measure the uniform smoothness of the puddle surfaces. Analysis will also examine their apparent 'opaqueness', where in some areas observers claim to see pebbles underneath the surface of the blue areas. From the article: 'No signs of liquid water have been observed directly from cameras on the surface before. Reports last year pointed to the existence of gullies on crater walls where water appears to have flowed in the last few years, as shown in images taken from orbit, but those are short-lived flows, which are thought to have frozen over almost immediately.'"
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Primary Goal of the Mission (Score:5, Informative)
But seriously, it is the first goal of the Mars Orbiter [esa.int]: I guess I would rather see something more than just regular images come from a mission. Right now, I can see all these things on the ESA's site that help the user see all these pictures of Mars but I don't see any maps of mineral composition, atmospheric movement, etc. I've seen pictures, these are some great high quality images with 3D detail that are great screensaver material. But, for the love of science, when do we get the rest of the data from the mission -- you know, the stuff that is, like, going to alter the way we view Mars? Is the public never going to see these results?
Re:Primary Goal of the Mission (Score:5, Funny)
Thats a very broad brush
Go on, say something in European.
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Re:Primary Goal of the Mission (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Primary Goal of the Mission (Score:4, Funny)
Stand against forced spelling reform!
That is all.
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Other cool facts about the mission (Score:5, Interesting)
Mars Express contains 7 different scientific instruments and, amongs other things, it has already:
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Re:Primary Goal of the Mission (Score:5, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_on_mars [wikipedia.org]
I remember the 1998 Mars Surveyor pictures. I wasn't surprise, but who can say honestly that he was not a bit disapointed ?
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A face huh? (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
What strikes me about the pictures from the Mars Express is how weird they look - they look kind of artificial - like they've been hand-drawn/painted by a 1950's space artist. They don't look like a picture if you nkow what I'm trying to say. The colours are very "rich" and unreal looking - difficult to explain - it might be a result of the prcoessing they've gone through.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You think this will quiet the conspiracy nuts? (Score:5, Insightful)
That's no face... (Score:5, Funny)
The world needs to know!
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Re:You think this will quiet the conspiracy nuts? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:You think this will quiet the conspiracy nuts? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's the same with anyone who has already made their decision without the need for evidence - more evidence doesn't do a thing to them.
I have a feeling you could take some of those people who think NASA faked the moon landing to the moon IN PERSON and they would still conclude that it's an externally imposed delusion, because they are starting from the basic premise that they are right. Facts will need to fit that preconception. Same thing here.
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However they analyze it (Score:4, Funny)
Noooooooo!!!11eleven1! (Score:4, Funny)
Oh wait, that's a good thing.
Errrm, nevermind.
Today's vocabulary word is "pareidolia" (Score:5, Informative)
Please excuse me, I have to return to searching my toast for the Virgin Mary now.
Not just on Mars (Score:3, Funny)
Link to the old, low-res version (Score:5, Funny)
There are many faces on Earth too (Score:5, Interesting)
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-16.341133,-71.965
Still looks convincingly face-like to me... (Score:4, Interesting)
It also looks at least as much like a face as human-constructed faces that have been ravaged by time, such as the Sphinx [guardians.net], or Michael Jackson.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Well Done (Score:4, Informative)
Secondly, its an orbiting space platform and has nothing to do with rovers (unless you mean the ill fated Beagle 2 which was carried on this mission).
But having corrected all that, you are right its a job well done.
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Re:It's human nature... (Score:5, Funny)
Heck, if you get the lighting right and go from just-so an angle, even Keith Richards seems to have a human face.
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Re:It's human nature... (Score:4, Funny)
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