Mars rover captures first close-up photos of giant ‘spiderwebs’ on the Red Planet
The curiosity of NASA Mars Rover took the first close images of gigantic “spiders” Martian on the red planet. Zigzaging crests, which have been left by the old groundwater, could reveal more about March“ An aqueous past and brings clues to the question of whether the planet has once fed extraterrestrial lifesay the researchers.
Web features, called “boxwork”, are made up of crosses crisscrossed with minerals rich in minerals which rarely throw the surface of Mars. The patterns can extend up to 12 miles (20 kilometers) and seem to have been spun by giant arachnids when they are seen from space. However, so far, these structures have never been studied closely.
Smaller boxwork training are on the walls of the caves on earth and are formed via a mechanism similar to Stalagmites and stalactites. Scientists suggested that the same mechanism created these structures on Mars, only on a much larger scale.
“The rocky substratum below these ridges has probably formed when the groundwater drips through the rock left behind the minerals that accumulate in these cracks and cracks, hardening and becoming in cement,” wrote representatives of NASA in a statement. “Sandbabing by the Martian wind have exhausted the rock but not minerals, revealing networks of resistant ridges inside.”
Web type features should not be confused with the Sadly famous “Spiders on Mars” – a geological characteristic Created by carbon dioxide on the surface of the planet, which was recently recreated on earth for the first time.
In relation: 32 things on Mars that seem not to be there
Curiosity currently explores a boxing plot on the slopes of Mont Sharp of 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) in the heart of Gale Crater, where the wandering robot landed in 2012. The rover Participate for the region in November 2024 And arrived earlier this month. The features are a priority target for scientists of the mission because the peak does not appear anywhere else on the mountain – and the experts do not know why.
On June 23, NASA published the first close images of the false spider, as well as a interactive video On their YouTube channel (see below), which allows you to explore the 3D site.
The rover also pierced and analyzed certain rock samples surrounding web ridges and found that they contained veins of calcium sulfate, a salty mineral which is also left by groundwater. This particular mineral has not been seen so far at Mount Sharp before, so his discovery here is “really surprising”, ” Abigail FraemanThe deputy scientist of the Curiosity project based in the NASA laboratory propulsion, said in the statement.
To watch
The researchers hope that by studying box work closely, they can know more about the aqueous past of March, before the The planet’s oceans were stripped of solar radiation. Future results could also shed light on the giant underground ocean which was recently discovered deep below the Martian crust.
Some experts also believe that crests could finally help settle the debate on If Mars has formerly nourished extraterrestrial life.
“These ridges will include minerals that crystallize Underground, where it would have been warmer, with flowing liquid water,” Kirsten SiebachA scientist of the Curiosit mission at Rice de Houston University who studied the region, said previously. “The microbes of the beginning of the earth could have survived in a similar environment. This makes it an exciting place to explore.”
Mars Quiz: Is your knowledge of the red planet outside this world?
