| by Paul Anderson
ERAS NEWS
The E-News Service of The Eras Project
http://www.geocities.com/erasproject
May 19, 2001
The text of NASA's response follows below. It is interesting to note the new stereoscopic Face images referred to, taken just last April 8 and released April 19. So where are they? They have apparently not been posted yet to the MSSS web site, or if they have been, no one has been able to find them yet. Usually, newly-released images are prominently referred to.
Also, regarding Arthur C. Clarke's recent statements on possible
'large-scale life forms' (vegetation) being seen in some of the recent MGS photos, these statements have been in the public domain and easily accessible for a number of weeks now:
Clarke's Believe it or Not
http://www.space.com/peopleinterviews/clarke_believe_010227.html
Arthur C. Clarke - How I helped to Save Star Trek: It Turned Out to Forecast our Future
http://www.times-archive.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/09/16/timopnope01001.html
More Arthur C. Clarke Comments Regarding 'Vegetation on Mars'
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_251806,00.html
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Headquarters
Washington, DC 20546-0001
May 11, 2001
Mr. Peter A. Gersten
Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 2443
Sedona, AZ 86339
Dear Mr. Gersten:
In response to your letter to NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin dated March 16, 2001, from the Formal Action Committee for Extra-Terrestrial Studies (FACETS), NASA has fully and openly distributed by means of public web-sites all images obtained of the Cydonia 'face' feature under question.
To date, more than 90,000 images of Mars have been acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), as well as hundreds of millions of laser altimeter topographic measurements and infrared spectra. None of the images acquired to date by the MGS/MOC system have been withheld and indeed, several recently (April 8, 2001) acquired images, including stereoscopic coverage of the Cydonia feature under question, have
been released via multiple public web sites. In this case, NASA responded to the request by FACETS (presented in the letter by Peter Gersten to Mr. Goldin on March 16, 2001) by initiating a complex set of MGS spacecraft operations to ensure that the highest possible resolution images of the Cydonia 'face' feature were acquired.
These spacecraft operations require special care and only a few can be performed each day. In addition to 1.5 m per pixel (about 5 foot resolution) resolution images of the Cydonia feature, NASA released a stereo 'anaglyph' of the feature that allows a viewer with colored 3D glasses to view the feature in 3D. This is the first release of a 3D image of any features on Mars acquired in this resolution.
Furthermore, NASA has assembled public web site access of ALL
MGS images acquired of the Cydonia Face feature since the start of MGS scientific observations. Given the challenges of imaging any feature on Mars (ie., NASA has yet to find the second Viking Lander specifically), this has involved considerable effort.
The newly released Cydonia observations reveal an intriguing mesa-like feature not unlike those found in the Southwestern USA, with geologic features than can be attributed to processes in multiple places on Mars in which isolated topographic features (remnants) have been observed. NASA encourages the development of multiple working hypothesis models for the formation of such features and in this case the new observations have been publicly released to permit further debate about controversial and enigmatic landforms on Mars. Dr. Michael Malin, the Principal Investigator of the MGS Mars Orbiter Camera, has provided his experienced interpretation
of the new images, but NASA welcomes additional opinions. Indeed, NASA promotes innovative analysis of such spacecraft data by competitive peer-review, as well as via open discussion in public meetings and by all members of the interested-public.
In the letter to Mr. Goldin by the members of FACETS, there are statements that are not consistent with published (and hence peer-reviewed) results from scientific literature. NASA does not know of any statements by Sir Arthur C. Clarke that suggest pretty convincing proof of the existence of large forms of like on Mars, nor are there any in the extant, peer-reviewed literature. NASA favors exploring the Universe for evidence of biological processes and aspects of the newly restructured Mars Exploration Program support a variety of approaches for searching for evidence of biological processes on Mars.
NASA has responded to the requests of the FACETS group in exactly the fashion requested in the March 16 letter, by targeting the Cydonia feature under question will (sic) the highest possible resolution, and most optimized illumination, as well as in stereo, to make available observations to the general public in a responsive manner. These data are released and available for interpretation by the FACETS members. They were so recently acquired from the MGS that there may have appeared to have been a delay in their release, but this was not the case. When an image is acquired at Mars it must be relayed to Earth via a specific process and then reconstructed on the ground before it can be posted on a public web site. This was accomplished at the end of last week (by April 19), and the data released on that date.
Thus on the basis of the requests made in the March 16 letter addressed to Mr. Goldin by Peter Gersten, the following items have been met or exceeded as follows:
(1) all images of the Cydonia area have been released on the internet (via http://www.msss.com and other public NASA sites via JPL)
(2) stereoscopic, full resolution (1.5 m/pixel) MOC images were acquired at optimized illumination conditions of the Cydonia features and have been released via the internet
(3) NASA awaits a specific list of requests for targeting the five
additional areas of Mars from a list submitted by FACETS, but no such list has yet been received.
NASA welcomes a variety of opinions about the origin of the enigmatic features on Mars as observed by the instruments aboard the Mars Global Surveyor. NASA relies upon the peer-review process and competitive peer review to fund analysis of the data it acquires and awaits newly published (or proposals to undertake such) interpretations of the Cydonia face feature. At present the Scientific advisory committees that formally advise NASA have not interpreted the Cydonia feature as evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. NASA will continue to explore all possibilities for the origin of landscapes on Mars using the open process it has traditionally utilized, as well as by timely release of all images
acquired by operational spacecraft, including the MGS.
NASA thanks the members of FACETS for their continuing interest in the Cydonia region and welcomes additional comments.
Sincerely,
Edward J. Weiler
Associate Administrator for
Space Science
Enclosure
Announcement of Third Cydonia Observation
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/target/update4-20.html
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