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New face on Mars has scientists smilingThe Happy Face crater, known since the days of Viking 1, has reappeared in Mars Global Surveyor photos |
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Space Science News home |
New face on Mars has scientists smilingThe Happy Face crater, known since the days of Viking 1, has reappeared in Mars Global Surveyor photos |
 Mar 12, 1999:
Just when you thought it was safe to look at photographs of
Mars, a new face has appeared on the Red Planet. Yesterday
NASA released several new images from Mars Global Surveyor.
Included was the "Happy Face" crater, a geological feature that
has many scientists grinning from ear to ear.
Right: The Happy Face Crater. On the first day of the Mapping Phase of the Mars Global Surveyor mission--during the second week of March 1999--MOC was greeted with this view of "Happy Face Crater" (center right) smiling back at the camera from its location on the east side of Argyre Planitia. This crater is officially known as Galle Crater, and it is about 215 kilometers (134 miles) across. The picture was taken by the MOC's red and blue wide angle cameras. The bluish-white tone is caused by wintertime frost. Like its more famous cousin, the celebrated "face" in the Cydonia region, the Happy Face crater is a natural feature. A nearly circular wall outlines the head and an arc-shaped ridge conveys the appearance of a broad smile. |
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The smiling crater, officially known as crater Galle, was first photographed by the Viking 1 spacecraft. At the time it garnered relatively little attention compared to the "face on Mars" in Cydonia. Many who examined grainy Viking images of Cydonia thought they saw a Sphinx-like visage jutting up from the Martian landscape. Others thought they could spot pyramids and geometrically placed mounds. More recent photos from Mars Global Surveyor show that the "face" was a mere trick of light and shadow falling on an unexceptional Martian hill. |
Left: A Viking image of crater Galle.
There are a number of Viking Orbiter images of Mars that, from time to time, have been invoked as examples of
landforms that look like familiar objects. One of the better
examples is the crater Galle (51.1° S, 31.3° W; 215 km across),
located on the eastern margin of the large basin Argyre. The
"face" was first noticed in synoptic observations taken
early in the Viking Orbiter 1 mission.
The Happy Face crater is not a trick of light, it's a trick of geography. The peaks and ridges that form the eyes, nose, and mouth of the face are real. They are visible in photos obtained from different angles and in many different lighting conditions. However, all of the features that contribute to the appearance of a face are completely natural and their arrangement is a result of chance, not design. The Happy Face on Mars has scientists on Earth smiling as well. The team that built the Mars Orbiting Camera at Malin Space Science Systems commented that "The MOC team's happiness [with the success of Mars Global Surveyor] is perhaps best expressed by the planet Mars itself." |
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Mars Global Surveyor Web Site
A steamy cover-up on the red planet -- New evidence for active volcanism on Mars. Feb. 18, 1999 NASA Space Science News Bugs of Fire -- Spacelab crystallizes a protein from a very weird, and surprisingly common, volcano-loving bug. Scientists hope to discover how these bugs can survive in such extreme conditions. Sept. 16, 1998 NASA Space Science News The Sands of Mars -- Oct. 29, 1998 NASA Space Science News New NASA images of the Martian North Pole -- Oct. 23, 1998 NASA Space Science News New images of volcanoes on Mars and Io -- Oct. 14, 1998 NASA Space Science News The Planetary PhotoJournal -- the latest images from around the solar system JPL Press Release on Martian Sand Dunes Mars Global Surveyor Animations More NASA Space Science News |
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