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One of the issues regarding extraterrestrial life is whether or not there is active life currently on Mars.
I have found in the following color photographs taken by the European Space Agency Mars Express Spacecraft,
green areas that look like possible vegetation.
The sections below have been saved at various levels from several different images for comparison.
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Some of the images seem to be of green areas that are actual 3-D formations showing texture, and not just areas of green
coloration. Some of the green regions show shapes that look like trees, and the edges of forests or jungles.
The green and blue patches in this first section look to be located in the low areas of a crater in the Promethei Terra
region.
ESA Image:
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/marsexpress/106-210904-0368-6-co-01-PrometheiTerra_H.jpg
Data Page:
http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&type=I&mission=Mars%20Express&single=y&start=261
When sections are resized larger in some images, more of the detail to the green areas can be seen, such as shown in the
following examples. The formations seem to be actually raised coverings that blanket the surface, rather than being
just flat areas of green.
The sections below are from the Reull Vallis region.
ESA: "Reull Vallis is an outflow channel that extends 1500 kilometres across Promethei Terra in the direction of Hellas
Basin. This Mars Express image was taken with a ground resolution of about 21 metres per pixel during Mars Express orbit
451 on 29 May 2004. The image shows an area located at about latitude 42 South and longitude 102 East. North is to the
left."
ESA Image:
http://esamultimedia.esa.int:80/images/marsexpress/139-121104-0451-6-co-01-Reull_H.jpg
Data Page:
http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&keyword=Reull&single=y&start=2
The green in this overhead view seems to fill in along what looks to be a channel formed possibly by flowing water.
Some of the image sections here have had the brightness and contrast adjusted slightly to help show details.
Strange and interesting jagged and curved shapes can be seen in this section when enlarged further.
In the following perspective view the dark green formations seem to be
filling in areas of rocky terrain. The green has a varied texture and again it is shown covering the surface.
ESA Image:
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/marsexpress/142-121104-0451-6-3d-01-Reull_H.jpg
Data Page:
http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&keyword=Reull&single=y&start=1
The following sections are from the Juventae Chasma area of Mars.
ESA: "This image taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows the
depression of Juventae Chasma, cut into the plains of Lunae Planum on Mars.
The HRSC obtained this image on 26 March 2004 during orbit 243 with a ground resolution of approximately 23.4 metres
per pixel. The scenes show the region of Lunae Planum, at approximately 5° South and 297° East. North is to the left."
ESA Image:
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/marsexpress/054co01JuventaeChasma_H.jpg
Data Page:
http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&type=I&mission=Mars%20Express&single=y&start=136
The following links are for the sections below.
ESA Image:
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/marsexpress/0583D301JuventaeChasma_H.jpg
Data Page:
http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&type=I&mission=Mars%20Express&single=y&start=138
ESA Image:
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/marsexpress/0573D201JuventaeChasma_H.jpg
Data Page:
http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&type=I&mission=Mars%20Express&single=y&start=139
ESA Image:
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/marsexpress/0563D101JuventaeChasma_H.jpg
Data Page:
http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&type=I&mission=Mars%20Express&single=y&start=134
ESA: "Perspective view of the mountain in Juventae Chasma, thought to be composed of sulphates, looking north-east.
The HRSC obtained this image on 26 March 2004 during orbit 243 with a ground resolution of approximately 23.4 metres per
pixel. The scene shows the region of Lunae Planum, at approximately 5° South and 297° East."
ESA Image:
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/marsexpress/0593D401JuventaeChasma_H.jpg
Data Page:
http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&type=I&mission=Mars%20Express&single=y&start=133
When resized larger, the details can be seen better. Please notice that the green formations look like the tops of trees.
See how the tops of what could be trees are lighter colored, while under the formations shadows can be seen.
This section below has been resized even larger. It is nearing the limits of resolution, but basic outlines can still be seen. The lighter-colored tops
of the formations and darker areas underneath are similar to groups of trees and forest areas seen on Earth.
The images below are from the Valles Marineris canyon.
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ESA: "This image was taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express during orbit 97 from an
altitude of 269 kilometres. The image has a resolution of about 13 metres per pixel and is centred at 278.8° East and 8.3°
South.
The colour image has been created from the nadir and three colour channels. North is at the right.
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The image shows a system sapping channels, called Louros Valles (named in 1982 after river in Greece), south of the
Ius Chasma canyon which runs west to east. The Ius Chasma belongs to the giant Valles Marineris canyon system. The Geryon
Montes, visible at the northern images border, is a mountain range which divide the Ius Chasma into two parallel trenches.
The dark deposits at the bottom of the Ius Chasma are possibly related to water and wind erosion.
'Sapping' is erosion by water that emerges from the ground as a spring or seeps from between layers of rock in a wall of a
cliff, crater or other type of depression. The channel forms from water and debris running down the slope from the seepage
area. This is known from similar features on Earth, but on Mars it is thought that most of the water had probably either
evaporated or frozen by the time it reached the bottom of the slope."
ESA Image:
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/marsexpress/032-060404-0097-6-co-02-VallesMarineris.jpg
Data Page:
http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?b=b&keyword=Marineris&single=y&start=55
This section has been resized further below . Notice how the green
and blue densely blankets the landscape. The cover is so thick it looks like forest or jungle.
Please notice how there appears to be a river or riverbed near the center of the section below. What looks like vegetation
almost looks as if it has been deliberately cleared from the sides of the river, similar to what we see
in populated areas on Earth, and in those regions in use for agriculture. More interesting shapes can be seen.
Here the section has been resized larger
with the brightness and contrast adjusted to help bring out details.
The possible areas of vegetation in these photographs seem to be located in logical places where nutrients from water in
circulation may deposit and collect. If photosynthesis is occurring on Mars, it could provide the basis for food chains.
These color images seem to collaborate each other in some respects. Other color and black and white photographs from Mars
shows what could possibly be liquid water. I should be covering more of those images in future reports. If some of these
photographs do show vegetation, then what might the environment be in these areas, and could there also be animal life
forms flourishing?
Norman Bryden.
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