text: First off, the cameras that we have today are more advanced than the ones we had. The first picture that was taken of the face on Mars was taken in 1976 and the quality back then was not as good as it is now. The picture that was taken in 2001 was a higher quality picture and scientists figured out that is was just a mesa and not a sign of any ancient civilization on Mars. For example the camera used in 1976, spanned 43 meters compared to the camera NASA used in 2001 spanned 1.56 meters. In the picture of 1976, the shadows that were present that day formed an illusion that made it seem like there was a face. In paragraph two of the article "Unmasking the Face on Mars" it says that, "Scientists figured it was just another Martian mesa, common enough around Cydonia, only this one had unusual shadows that made it look like an Egyptian Pharaoh."