It sounds like something straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but a new ultra-high-resolution photograph taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter may prove that life does indeed imitate art.
The Orbiter has taken a photo of something on the Martian surface that looks amazingly like a rectangular upright monolith, similar to the one imagined by Arthur C. Clarke in his 2001 novel, and later by Stanley Kubrick in his film adaptation. The object measures roughly five meters across, and towers above everything else in the surrounding landscape, casting a long shadow behind it.
The question is: is it a natural formation, or something artificially created (and if so, by whom)?
Most scientists are skeptical, saying the object is merely a boulder with rectangular shaped features. But if you ask Buzz Aldrin (only the second man to have walked on the moon), he may tell you otherwise.
According to Aldrin, there is another similar monolith on the surface of the Martian moon Phobos.
Speaking last week on C-SPAN, Aldrin tried to make a case for exploring Mars and it’s moon. “There’s a monolith there – a very unusual structure on this little potato shaped object that goes around Mars once every seven hours,” said Aldrin.
“When people find out about that they are going to say, ‘Who put that there? Who put that there?'”
Now while I feel this “monolith” does need to be studied further, I do want to remind our readers about past “Monuments of Mars” that have turned up to be simply light and shadow on natural formations playing tricks on the eye.
Does anybody remember the “Face on Mars?”
Back on July 25, 1976, the Viking Orbiter 1 captured the above photograph of an unusual face-like formation on the surface of Mars. When this image first appeared, it caused a wave of sensation and speculation that perhaps the red planet had been home to intelligent life sometime in its far-flung past.
Well, it wasn’t until years later on another Mars mission that this myth was finally put to rest. On April 5, 1998, the Mars Global Surveyor flew over Cydonia, the Martian site where the infamous “face” was photographed, and took another photo ten times sharper than the original Viking photos.
Here is what the same “face” looks like under different lighting conditions and better resolution.
Yup, just an eroded hill.
Of course, the verdict is still out on last years “Bigfoot on Mars” photo.
(Personally, I’m still hoping that one’s true.)
