text: So what is this "Face of mars" that has had so many people questioning NASA and skepticizing over whether or not there is life on Mars? Well, the latest picture was an MGS image from 2001. This image shows the "Face" for what it actually is, which is a mesa. As it says in the article Unmasking the Face on Mars "What the picture actually shows is the Martian equivalent of a butte or mesalandforms common around the American West." Thats a lava dome that takes the form of an isolated mesa about the same height as the Face on Mars.