STUNNING Mars Illusions pictures

Mods please feel free to delete this if it has already been posted, i just had to share

Ever since Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli described his discovery of canals on Mars in 1877 and American astronomer Percival Lowell started to map them, we humans have been fascinated with the Red Planet. Although the canals were nothing more than a case of mistaken identity and our technology has come a long way since Schiaparelli and Lowell's telescopes, Mars continues to serve up its fair share of illusions, hoaxes and misunderstandings.

I have always had a fascination with the red planet, hoping one day life will be found on another planet, Mars seemed to be our only chance and our only hope, i'm sure there is a lot of people on here, that have felt a connection or was just curious about Mars.
From watching Total Recall (huge Sci-Fi fan) I dreamed one day we will colonize the beast and pay air taxes, but probe after probe, rover after rover we sent up, the writing was on the wall, Mars was lifeless, and more inhospitable than we thought!

I'm still optimistic, with new information there was once oceans and lakes on Mars and perhaps there was once life. Anyways i was scouring the internet looking at some pictures from (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and came across these beauties from Discovery News.

I hope you guys like and enjoy



A Volcanic Elephant

Pictured here, an ancient lava flow Elysium Planitia was imaged by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). To the HiRISE mission scientists, far from it being a barren landscape, the head of an elephant etched into the surface jumped out at them.




The Smiling Crater

Galle Crater was first imaged by the Viking 1 Orbiter in the 1970s and then, in 1999, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor took this shot. Although the two 'eyes' and 'mouth' are known to be raised features and mountains, it's hard to shake the image of a 230 kilometer-wide smiley face.




Alien Artifacts

his photo snapped by rover Opportunity in 2008 of a rocky outcrop at Victoria Crater appears to have a Martian sculpture of some kind of pharaoh (exhibit A) and a spaceship component half buried in the sand (exhibit B). Sadly, both are just angular rock shapes.




Bigfoot! (Littlefoot?)

If there really are alien artifacts on Mars, who the heck is making them? According to some, this photo by NASA's Spirit rover is an eerie example of one of those humanoids. Either that, or it's Bigfoot seeing out his retirement on Mars. But there's a problem. This "Mars Bigfoot" isn't very big at all -- it's about 6 centimeters tall. And guess what? It's made of rock.




My Favorite!
The Tree-Lined Hills of Mars

The "trees" are in fact flow channels of dark material slipping off the tops of sand dunes a couple of hundred miles south of the planet's north pole. The slides were caused by the melting and sublimation of carbon dioxide frost as the northern hemisphere entered summer.




Mars Rat, Possibly a Gopher

Once you see it, you can't un-see it. Yep, that looks like a rat alright.




And the one that kicked my imagination.
The Face of Mars

This observation was taken by the Viking 1 Orbiter in 1976. As follow-up observations have since shown us, the "face" is in fact a Mars mesa (a hill) in the Cydonia region. But this original low-resolution, lucky photo launched countless theories of intelligent life on Mars, inspiring numerous sci-fi books and movies.


This planet still fascinates me, I hope in my life time we grow up and put asides our differences and get out and explore the cosmos, this stuff is more interesting than war come on!
Do you guys think we will eventually leave low Earth orbit and get back out there anytime soon? There is soon to be another race for the Moon again, with China India and Japan all competing for bragging rights, do you think the USA will try and trump them again, and go for Mars?

Oh and a big thank you USA and NASA I know there is a lot of animosity lately but without you guys we wouldn't know Jack Squat about the cosmos... well not nearly as much as we do now.

Check the link out here

reply to post by muSSang


I am a firm believer that our universe is teeming with life. It's just sooooooooo big, it's more likely than not to me. Mars is fascinating for sure. We will find something there eventually. Have you read this article interesting link? I found it interesting. The thing about pictures is, if you look long and hard enough you will find what you want to see regardless of if it really there or not. I want physical proof.