20000214

Mars sends Valentine's card to Earth

PASADENA: Happy Valentine's Day from Mars.

A satellite circling the Red Planet on Friday sent back pictures of a heart-shaped Martian plateau just in time for star-struck lovers to download it from the Internet and e-mail the image to their Earthbound sweethearts.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, announced that the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft "has captured a lovely view of a bright, heart-shaped mesa in the south polar region of the Red Planet."

The heart-shaped feature is about 837 feet (255 meters) across. But be warned, the heart has a dark side. In this case it is surrounded by a layer of dark, rough terrain.

The image can be seen and downloaded from http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov or http://www.msss.com.-Reuters