This Adobe (Macromedia) Flash movie zooms in to the (in)famous "Face on Mars" in the Cydonia region. The animation is 2.2 MB in size. It uses data from the Viking 1 Orbiter, Mars Global Surveyor, and Mars Express missions. Beginning with a view of the Mars globe, you will zoom in to the highest resolution view from the Mars Global Surveyor with a stop along the way at the original Viking 1 Orbiter image. It also shows what the feature would look like from three different side views.
Click the right green arrow to play the movie or resume play. Click the middle red box to pause the movie. Click the left green rewind track button to go to the previous "track" or spacecraft image.
I was inspired to create this animation when I received the November/December issue of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's "Mercury" magazine. It shows a beautiful image of the Cydonia region from the Mars Express orbiter on the front and back covers of the magazine. More on this feature...
last updated: December 19, 2006