Latest news with #MarsSurface
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's Mars rover proves these peculiar ridges have secrets to tell
NASA's Curiosity rover has started drilling into a bizarre landscape on Mars that could upend assumptions about when the Red Planet truly dried out. After a long drive, the Mini Cooper-sized robot reached a so-called boxwork region, where a gridlike pattern of ridges splays over six to 12 miles. For years, orbiters had observed this area from space but never up close. Scientists had hypothesized before the rover arrived that the peculiar ridges formed with the last trickles of water in the region before it dried out for good. But mineral veins discovered in the boxwork suggest groundwater stuck around longer than anyone expected. The bedrock between the ridges contains tiny white veins of calcium sulfate, a salty mineral left behind as groundwater seeps into rock cracks. Deposits of the material were plentiful in lower rock layers from an earlier Martian period. But no one thought they'd appear in the layer Curiosity is exploring now, which formed much later. "That's really surprising," said Curiosity's deputy project scientist, Abigail Fraeman, in a statement. "These calcium sulfate veins used to be everywhere, but they more or less disappeared as we climbed higher up Mount Sharp. The team is excited to figure out why they've returned now." SEE ALSO: Rubin Observatory's first images flaunt millions of galaxies. Take a look. Ancient Mars used to be wetter — flush with rivers, lakes, and maybe even oceans — but over billions of years, it turned into a dusty, cold desert. What's unclear is when that shift happened and how long conditions suitable for life might have lingered. Curiosity's new findings complicate what scientists thought they knew about the timeline. The rover has spent more than a decade in Gale Crater climbing Mount Sharp, reading the rock layers like pages in a planetary chronicle. The layer it's on now is chock-full of magnesium sulfates, salty minerals that typically form as water evaporates. That fits the narrative researchers had expected: This was supposed to be a chapter when Mars was well on its way to arid. That's why a new sample Curiosity drilled this month, dubbed Altadena, could be enlightening. As the rover analyzes the boxwork's composition, scientists may gain a better understanding of how it formed, what minerals are present, and whether any clues about ancient single-celled microorganisms might be hidden there. The rover will drill more ridges in the coming months to compare them and evaluate how groundwater may have changed over time. Bedrock between the boxwork ridges contains tiny white veins of calcium sulfate. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS The mission's next targets lie farther into the boxwork region, where the patterns grow larger and more distinct. Curiosity will keep looking for organic molecules and other potential evidence of a habitable environment in Mars' ancient past. The rover team has begun nicknaming features after places near Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni, one of the driest, saltiest places on Earth. It's reminiscent of the Martian landscape Curiosity is sightseeing today. "Early Earth microbes could have survived in a similar environment," said Kirsten Siebach, a rover scientist based in Houston, in an earlier statement. "That makes this an exciting place to explore."
Fox News
6 days ago
- Science
- Fox News
NASA's Curiosity rover discovers unusual 'boxwork' patterns on Mars linked to ancient waterways
NASA's Curiosity rover is getting a firsthand look at a region on Mars previously only seen from orbit that features a "boxwork" pattern, along with evidence of ancient waterways, including rivers, lakes and maybe an ocean. New images and data from the Mars rover have already raised questions about how the red planet's surface was changing billions of years ago. Scientists are still unable, though, to answer why the planet's water eventually dried up and converted the surface into a chilly desert. Curiosity rover is in an area called Gale Crater, and evidence has shown that when it was formed, water was percolating under the surface. NASA said the rover had found evidence of groundwater in the crater when it encountered crisscrossing low ridges, some of which were only a few inches tall and were described by geologists as being arranged in a boxwork pattern. Beneath the ridges is bedrock scientists believe formed when groundwater trickled through the rock and left behind minerals that accumulated in the cracks and fissures. The minerals then hardened and became cement-like. The formations were worn away after what NASA called "eons of sandblasting" from Martian wind, though the minerals remained and revealed a network of resistant ridges within. Rover has already analyzed ridges that scientists say look more like a crumbling curb. But the patterns created over time stretch across miles of a layer on the 3-mile-tall Mount Sharp. The rover has been climbing the foothills of Mount Sharp since 2014, NASA said. What scientists also find interesting about the boxwork patterns is they have not been found anywhere else on the mountain by orbiters overhead or Curiosity. "A big mystery is why the ridges were hardened into these big patterns and why only here," said Curiosity project scientist Ashwin Vasavada of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "As we drive on, we'll be studying the ridges and mineral cements to make sure our idea of how they formed is on target." NASA said the patterns are found in a part of Mount Sharp formed during various eras of the ancient Martian climate. So, as the rover ascends from the oldest layers to the youngest, it is essentially time traveling and searching for signs that water existed on Mars and which environments would have supported microbial life in the planet's ancient times. "The rover is currently exploring a layer with an abundance of salty minerals called magnesium sulfates, which form as water dries up," NASA said. "Their presence here suggests this layer emerged as the climate became drier. "Remarkably, the boxwork patterns show that even in the midst of this drying, water was still present underground, creating changes seen today." Recent clues exposed on Mars may provide additional insight for scientists into why the boxwork patterns formed where they did. The bedrock between the ridges has a lot of tiny fractures filled with white veins of calcium sulfate, which is a salty mineral left behind when groundwater trickles through cracks in rocks, NASA said. In the lower layers of the mountain, similar veins were plentiful, and one was even enriched with clays. But, until now, none of the veins had been spotted in the sulfate. "That's really surprising," said Curiosity Deputy Project Scientist Abigail Fraeman of JPL. "These calcium sulfate veins used to be everywhere, but they more or less disappeared as we climbed higher up Mount Sharp. The team is excited to figure out why they've returned now." The Curiosity rover was launched Nov. 26, 2011, and landed on Mars Aug. 5, 2012. Its mission was to find out whether Mars ever had the right environmental conditions to support life, and, early on, the rover discovered chemical and mineral evidence of habitable environments from the past.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mars rover captures first close-up photos of giant 'spiderwebs' on the Red Planet
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has taken the first ever close-up images of gigantic Martian "spiderwebs" on the Red Planet. The zig-zagging ridges, which were left behind by ancient groundwater, could reveal more about Mars' watery past and provide clues about whether the planet once harbored extraterrestrial life, researchers say. The web-like features, known as "boxwork," are made up of criss-crossing ridges of mineral-rich rocks that infrequently litter the surface of Mars. The patterns can span up to 12 miles (20 kilometers) across and look as if they have been spun by giant arachnids when viewed from space. Yet, until now, these structures have never been studied up close. Smaller boxwork formations are found on the walls of caves on Earth and form via a similar mechanism to stalagmites and stalactites. Scientists have suggested the same mechanism created these structures on Mars, only on a much larger scale. "The bedrock below these ridges likely formed when groundwater trickling through the rock left behind minerals that accumulated in those cracks and fissures, hardening and becoming cementlike," NASA representatives wrote in a statement. "Eons of sandblasting by Martian wind wore away the rock but not the minerals, revealing networks of resistant ridges within." The web-like features should not be confused with the infamous "spiders on Mars" — a geological feature created by carbon dioxide ice on the planet's surface, which was recently recreated on Earth for the first time. Related: 32 things on Mars that look like they shouldn't be there Curiosity is currently exploring a patch of boxwork on the slopes of the 3.4-mile-tall (5.5 kilometers) Mount Sharp at the heart of Gale Crater, where the wandering robot touched down in 2012. The rover set out for the area in November 2024 and arrived earlier this month. The features are a priority target for mission scientists because the ridges do not appear anywhere else on the mountain — and experts have no idea why. On June 23, NASA released the first close-up images of the faux spiderwebs, along with an interactive video on their YouTube channel (see below), which enables you to explore the site in 3D. The rover also drilled and analyzed some samples of rocks surrounding the web-like ridges and found that they contained veins of calcium sulfate, a salty mineral that is also left behind by groundwater. This particular mineral hasn't been seen so far up Mount Sharp before, so its discovery here is "really surprising," Abigail Fraeman, Curiosity's deputy project scientist based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in the statement. Researchers hope that by studying boxwork up close, they can learn more about Mars' watery past, before the planet's oceans were stripped away by solar radiation. Future findings could also shed light on the giant subsurface ocean that was recently discovered deep below the Martian crust. RELATED STORIES —Lights on Mars! NASA rover photographs visible auroras on Red Planet for the first time —Mars cozies up to one of the brightest stars in the sky in 'mind-blowing' conjunction photo —NASA spots Martian volcano twice the height of Mount Everest bursting through the morning clouds Some experts also think that the ridges could finally help settle the debate around whether Mars once harbored extraterrestrial life. "These ridges will include minerals that crystallized underground, where it would have been warmer, with salty liquid water flowing through," Kirsten Siebach, a Curiosity mission scientist at Rice University in Houston who has been studying the area, previously said. "Early Earth microbes could have survived in a similar environment. That makes this an exciting place to explore."
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Life on Mars? Mysterious 'mushroom' is spotted on the Red Planet in photo snapped by NASA's Curiosity rover
Scientists have spent decades scouring the Martian surface for any signs of life. Now, a photo snapped by NASA 's Curiosity rover has sparked speculation that the hunt might finally be over. A picture taken from the Martian surface appears to show a 'mushroom' growing on the Red Planet. The strange discovery has led some alien hunters to declare: ' been found!' The photo was taken by the Curiosity rover on September 19, 2013, but was spotted in the archives by UFO hunter Scott Waring. Mr Waring says: 'This object has a curved bottom part of a stem, same as those on Earth. 'I'm not sure how or why NASA could overlook such a NASA's mission is to find life on other planets and moons.' However, scientists say there is a much simpler explanation. NASA's Curiosity rover was launched to Mars in 2011 with the goal of discovering whether the planet had the right conditions to support microscopic life. To help this search, the rover is equipped with multiple cameras, a drill to gather rock samples, and sets of tools to analyse the chemical compositions of samples. However, despite a decade of searching, Curiosity has never found any evidence that Mars is or ever was home to any form of alien life. But that hasn't stopped wild speculation following many of the rover's discoveries. Following his discovery of this archived image, Mr Waring claims that the rocky structure is a mushroom that has 'clearly pushed up out of the Mars dirt.' He adds: 'NASA should have poked it, bumped it, knocked it over, cut it open with their tools on Curiosity rover or at least use that million dollar laser they burn rocks and dirt with.' And Mr Waring isn't the only one who agrees. Commenters on social media flocked to share their support for his claims. One wrote: Looks like a mushroom to me! NASA know far more about MARS than they let on.' While another boldly claimed: 'What people fail to realize is if life is found on just one other planet in the solar system, then that basically means there is life everywhere in the Universe mathematically.' However, scientists are not convinced by this supposed evidence. Dr Gareth Dorrian, a planetary physicist from the University of Birmingham, told MailOnline that this is simply a 'flat roughly disc-shaped rock sitting atop a smaller stone at the bottom.' 'My best guess would be they were not originally in that position, but like two rocks lying in the desert, one just below the surface and the other on the surface above it,' he explained. 'Over time the wind could gradually blow the sand and dust away and the top one would gradually settle onto the bottom one.' Dr Dorrian points out that wind-driven processes like this on Earth often produce remarkable and strange formations. Alternatively, these 'mushrooms' could be geological structures called concretions, which formed billions of years ago when there was liquid water on Mars. As water flows through sediment, it dissolves the minerals and rearranges them in a more compact form to leave behind a solid block. Since these are harder than the surrounding rock, they are often left standing above the surface. Just like the hoodoo rock spires of the American southwest, these structures often take on a mushroom-like shape as the wind carves away the softer bedrock to leave a thin 'stem'. Part of the reason that Curiosity didn't stop to take any more measurements, as Mr Waring suggests, is that these are common on the Martian surface. Additionally, Dr Dorrian points out that, even if there were life on Mars, the chances of a living organism being found on the Martian surface are extremely low. The atmospheric pressure at the Martian surface is roughly equivalent to that found 20 miles above the surface of Earth, meaning the atmosphere is very thin. This allows a constant stream of ultraviolet and particle radiation in the form of cosmic rays to bombard the surface. Dr Dorrian says: 'This unhealthy combination of radiation is well known to damage complex molecules like DNA and would quickly sterilise the surface where this image was taken.' As if that wasn't bad enough, Dr Dorrian notes that temperature above ground would make it impossible for any organism to survive. Temperatures swing from a comfortable 20°C (68°F) during the day to -100°C (-148°F) at night, well below the freezing point of water and far colder than anywhere on Earth. 'No known forms of life can simultaneously tolerate these extremes of temperatures, radiation levels, and low atmospheric pressure, including mushrooms,' says Dr Dorrian. 'If life does exist on Mars, it is more likely to be found below ground, such as in underground reserves of water, where it would be shielded from the harsh environment at the surface.' That means this photograph almost certainly shows a common and naturally occurring rock formation, rather than life growing in an impossibly harsh environment.
Digital Trends
23-05-2025
- Science
- Digital Trends
Perseverance's new selfie is cool, but its hunt for life in ancient rocks is even cooler
It's not only Instagram users and holiday makers snapping selfies — even robots are getting in on the action. This new image from the NASA Perseverance rover shows a selfie that's out of this world, captured as the rover collected its latest sample of martian rock. Taken on May 10, the selfie was devised to celebrate the rover's 1,500th day on Mars. As a day on Mars is just a little bit longer than an Earth day, at around 24 hours and 39 minutes, NASA measures its Mars missions in 'sols' or martian days. As well as being a fun image for scientists and the public to enjoy, it gives the engineering team on the ground the chance to check the look and the status of the rover as it has been exploring since it landed in February 2021. Recommended Videos You can see plenty of red dust covering the rover, as the surface of Mars is covered in a dusty material called regolith which gives the planet its famous red color. Dust can be quite the challenge for Mars missions, as it gets everywhere when it is whipped up by huge dust storms and can cause problems by gumming up electronics and covering solar panels. But fortunately for Perseverance, the rover may look a little grubby on the outside but its essential functions are all still working well. 'After 1,500 sols, we may be a bit dusty, but our beauty is more than skin deep,' said Art Thompson, Perseverance project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 'Our multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator is giving us all the power we need. All our systems and subsystems are in the green and clicking along, and our amazing instruments continue to provide data that will feed scientific discoveries for years to come.' Even with all the instruments working correctly, though, getting the rover to take a selfie isn't a quick job. The image was captured using Perseverance's WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera, which is located at the end of its robotic arm. As the rover was working on capturing the selfie, it also caught an unexpected photobomber: a wind feature called a dust devil which popped up in the background. 'To get that selfie look, each WATSON image has to have its own unique field of view,' explained Megan Wu, a Perseverance imaging scientist from Malin Space Science Systems. 'That means we had to make 62 precision movements of the robotic arm. The whole process takes about an hour, but it's worth it. Having the dust devil in the background makes it a classic. This is a great shot.' With its celebrations well in hand, the rover is now moving on to investigate a new area of Mars: a region called 'Krokodillen' after a Norwegian mountain ridge. This area is particularly exciting because it is thought to contain some of the oldest rocks on Mars, which could help to unlock the secrets of how the solar system formed. Here on Earth, our planet has a system of tectonics in which parts of the planet's crust are gradually pulled down toward the mantle when they meet at a fault line. That means that the rocks on Earth are essentially recycled in an ongoing cycle of melting down toward the planet's interior then rising up and cooling to become part of the surface. That's why there are very few extremely old rocks on Earth. On Mars, however, it's a different story. Mars doesn't have plate tectonics, so very old rocks can stay on its surface for billions of years. Some of these are up to 4 billion years old, or even older, so studying them can help scientists learn about how the rocky planets formed in our solar system around 4.5 billion years ago. To study these very old rocks, though, Perseverance needs to find them first. There are thought to be extremely old rocks along the edge of the huge crater in which the rover landed, called Jezero. The Jezero Crater is almost 30 miles across, likely created by a huge meteorite impact billions of years ago. When this object slammed into the martian surface, it threw up large amounts of material like huge chunks of rock which landed nearby and are still there to this day. That means that by looking along the rim of the crater, Perseverance can search for these ancient chunks of rocks and use its instruments to study them. That can also help to answer one particularly important question that scientists want to understand, which is how long there was water on Mars. They know that, although Mars is dry and arid today, it once had plentiful liquid water on its surface. It may even have looked a lot like Earth at one point — and we know that water is essential for the formation of life. What scientists don't agree on is exactly how long there was water on Mars, and whether it would have been around for long enough to give potential life the chance to develop there. So knowing exactly when Mars lost is water is a key part of understanding the planet and whether it could ever have supported life. To that end, Perseverance will be keeping a lookout for clay minerals which form in the presence of water, perhaps even formed before the impact which created the crater. These could contain potential indications of life, called biosignatures, such as organic compounds. 'If we find a potential biosignature here, it would most likely be from an entirely different and much earlier epoch of Mars evolution than the one we found last year,' said NASA scientist Ken Farley. 'The Krokodillen rocks formed before Jezero Crater was created, during Mars' earliest geologic period, the Noachian, and are among the oldest rocks on Mars.'
