On the surface of our nearest planetary neighbour, a smiling teddy bear’s face appears to have been sculpted, waiting for a passing satellite to find it.
That’s exactly what happened last month when the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter went by carrying the most powerful camera ever to explore the Solar System.
Scientists running the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment), which has been orbiting Mars since 2006, have now released a photo of the face after processing the data that returned to Earth.
Scientists at the University of Arizona, which developed the kit, described it as having a hill with a V-shaped collapse structure for the nose, two craters for the eyes, and a circular fracture pattern for the skull.
Each feature on the 2,000 metre (1.25 mile) broad face has a potential explanation that sheds light on how dynamic the planet’s surface is.
The scientists speculated that the circular fracture pattern may be the result of a deposit settling over an underground impact crater.
“Perhaps the deposit is lava or mud flows, and the nose is a volcanic or mud vent?”
One of the six instruments on board the Orbiter, HiRISE, takes incredibly detailed photographs of the Red Planet to assist map its surface for any human or robotic visits in the future.
The crew has found dark flows that may be liquids throughout the past 10 years and has been able to photograph avalanches as they happened.
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