Mars Express: Return to Cydonia

The unusual stone mesas of the Cydonia region on Mars are quite striking in appearance.
Last week, the Mars Express project released a new close-up image of a portion of the
Cydonia region on Mars. This new image, taken by the robotic Mars Express spacecraft
now orbiting Mars, shows an area about 90 kilometers wide. In the far lower right of
the above image, a particularly picturesque mesa can be seen as the upper right of the
two mesas visible there. This mesa, when lit from just the right sun angle, can appear
similar to a human face and became famous as the Face on Mars in 1976 Viking orbiter
images. Better images show it to be just an interesting mesa. Such complex looking
landforms in the Cydonia region are thought to be the result of landslides and erosion
of the ancient Martian crust.