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Probe images 'smiley face' crater (Mars Express Probe photo)
BBC ^
| 4-12-06
Posted on 04/12/2006 4:57:46 PM PDT by Cagey
Images taken by Europe's Mars Express spacecraft show a crater on the Red Planet that looks like a "happy face". Crater Galle contains parallel gullies on its southern rim, a possible sign of liquid water running on Mars' surface.
Its interior has also been shaped by the action of wind and shows signs of "dust devil" tracks, which have removed the bright surface coating of dust.
A US space agency (Nasa) orbiter has also sent back its first colour image after arriving at Mars on 11 March.
The "face" in the European images was first pointed out in photos taken during Nasa's Viking Orbiter 1 mission.
The 230km- (143 mile-) wide impact crater contains a large stack of layered sediments which forms an outcrop in the southern part of the crater.
Lowered orbit
The US space agency's (Nasa) Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) had already returned black and white images from its high-resolution cameras.
Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken its first colour image of the Red Planet
Mission scientists have now released a colour image of the eastern Bosporos Planum region.
This is not natural colour as seen by our eyes, but infrared colour, which is shifted to longer wavelengths. The image has also been processed to enhance subtle colour variations.
The southern half of the scene is brighter and bluer than the northern half, perhaps due to early-morning fog in the atmosphere.
MRO's cameras will take the most detailed images ever of the Red Planet. Once the orbiter has descended to its lower mapping orbit, the cameras will be able to pick out objects just under 1m (3ft) across.
TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: happyface; mars; marshappyface; marssmileyface; pareidolia; smileyface; thetruthisoutthere
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Surface with a smile: Crater Galle
1
posted on
04/12/2006 4:57:46 PM PDT
by
Cagey
To: Cagey
Looks like an ad for Wal-Mart's "Falling Prices." They say they're out of this world.
2
posted on
04/12/2006 5:06:40 PM PDT
by
feedback doctor
(Liberalism is like a religion....islam)
To: Cagey
To: Cagey
Surface with a smile Betcha won't find this on eBay anytime soon.
4
posted on
04/12/2006 5:09:30 PM PDT
by
the invisib1e hand
(Polls show Jesus' approval ratings at all time low, after a triumphant reception just a few days ago)
To: Cagey
With all of the darker brown in the northeast quadrant I thought it looked more like a Pac-man.
5
posted on
04/12/2006 5:09:53 PM PDT
by
kcar
To: Cagey
6
posted on
04/12/2006 5:10:38 PM PDT
by
Rebelbase
("truth is not invalidated by suppression"--nicmarlo)
To: feedback doctor; martin_fierro
7
posted on
04/12/2006 5:11:26 PM PDT
by
Cagey
(You don't pay taxes - they take taxes. ~Chris Rock)
To: Cagey
This is not natural colour as seen by our eyes, but infrared colour, which is shifted to longer wavelengths. The image has also been processed to enhance subtle colour variations. Other features such as the "eyes" and the "smile" were also added to enhance the illusion ah... the image.
8
posted on
04/12/2006 5:11:27 PM PDT
by
steveo
(Father's Against Rude Television. You may already be a member.)
To: Rebelbase; MotleyGirl70
LOL!
Rebelbase draws well too.
9
posted on
04/12/2006 5:12:20 PM PDT
by
Cagey
(You don't pay taxes - they take taxes. ~Chris Rock)
To: Cagey
In related news, a strange anomaly was photographed in an area just north of the famed "smiley face" ... scientist are buffered:
10
posted on
04/12/2006 5:13:06 PM PDT
by
MaDeuce
(Do it to them, before they do it to you! (MaDuce = M2HB .50 BMG))
To: MaDuce
I meant baffled ... damn!
11
posted on
04/12/2006 5:15:32 PM PDT
by
MaDeuce
(Do it to them, before they do it to you! (MaDuce = M2HB .50 BMG))
To: MaDuce
I don't know, "buffered" sound pretty scientific to me.
12
posted on
04/12/2006 5:16:17 PM PDT
by
Cagey
(You don't pay taxes - they take taxes. ~Chris Rock)
To: Cagey
I hate to bring this up, but it more closely resembles Uranus crater.
13
posted on
04/12/2006 5:20:02 PM PDT
by
bert
(K.E. N.P. Slay Pinch)
To: Cagey
Proof that the French sent Waldo to Mars.
14
posted on
04/12/2006 5:21:51 PM PDT
by
Rebelbase
("truth is not invalidated by suppression"--nicmarlo)
To: Cagey
Is it me or does it look like its sticking its tongue out? Cheeky red planet...
15
posted on
04/12/2006 5:27:32 PM PDT
by
WestVirginiaRebel
(Common sense will do to liberalism what the atomic bomb did to Nagasaki-Rush Limbaugh)
To: Cagey
Spooky...
16
posted on
04/12/2006 5:32:09 PM PDT
by
Bear_in_RoseBear
(Quis custodiet ipsos custodes)
To: Cagey
Where's our flag we planted up there?
;-)
17
posted on
04/12/2006 5:33:38 PM PDT
by
Tunehead54
(Nothing funny here ;-)
To: kcar
18
posted on
04/12/2006 5:45:34 PM PDT
by
mcar
To: shaggy eel
I told you they'd find it.
We should be more careful how we lay out our miniature golf courses in the future.
19
posted on
04/12/2006 5:57:12 PM PDT
by
PoorMuttly
("Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground." - Theodore Roosevelt)
To: Cagey
They better not get too close, it looks dangerous!
20
posted on
04/12/2006 6:06:28 PM PDT
by
SWAMPSNIPER
(LET ME DIE ON MY FEET, IN MY SWAMP)
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