David generated the image of the Martian surface from elevation data downloaded from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) website. The elevation data was originally collected by the Mars Observer Laser Altimeter (MOLA) instrument of the MGS spacecraft from Martian orbit. David then imported this elevation data into the 3D terrain visualization program VistaPro and rendered it into an image, thus providing a birds-eye view of the Martian surface that precisely matches the actual planet. Alice noticed that several of the terrain features seemed to resemble the classic Mandelbrot set, which is the first, original, most basic fractal shape. She layered Mandelbrots onto the surface, thus creating The Mandelbrots of Mars.