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Human-shaped rock on Mars is just that - a rock |
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Written by Derek Kessler on
Saturday, 26 January 2008
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 Ever since we figured out that Mars was a planet, there have been those that thought there could be life on the red planet. While astronomers and astrobiologists are certain that Mars is currently life-free (whether microbial life may have existed in the path is still undetermined), that hasn’t stopped people from ceasing on supposed evidence of artificial structures on the planet. From the massive canal system that spans half of Mars (a network of canyons) to the mysterious face discovered by the Viking 1 orbiter (later missions have discovered that it was just an odd coincidence of shadows), now we’re looking at a rock formation photographed by the Spirit robot that looks like a seated female human figure. Turns out it's just a rock.
The phenomenon is known in psychological circles as pareidolia - essentially seeing human features, particularly faces, where there are none. This is why we can see faces (or the Starship Enterprise) in clouds and ink blots. The same applies to faces in Martian hills and this newly discovered sculpture sitting near the Spirit rover while it weathered the Martian winter atop a plateau.
However, if it is a Martian, they're pretty small people. NASA says the formation is only a few yards away from the rover (it’s difficult to tell the size of things on the barren surface of Mars or the Moon without a known frame of reference), meaning that it is only a few inches tall. While it is possible that Martian women are only the size of my hand and like to hang out near these alien rovers, we'll know for sure when the rover takes another picture of that area - if the rocks are still there, then they really are rocks. Or Martians are very patient people.
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