Mars bares big hearts; one rising, one sinking

Posted by tourdemars to Mars Global Surveyor at February 14, 2002 12:00 PM

A strange mesa really stands out on the red planet on Valentine's Day. So does a pit that extends more than a mile in length. The heart-shaped landforms are among thousands of bizarre features spied by the Mars Global Surveyor, a NASA satellite that has conducted photo shoots of the planet for more than four years. The light-colored heart, a mesa in the south polar region, is about 255 meters (279 yards) across, according to NASA. The presence of the mesa suggests that a layer of brighter material once covered the rougher, darker terrain around it.