During research on Mars, NASA experts come across a “strange structure” – in the middle of a gigantic crater.
Frankfurt – The exploration of Mars * is progressing. Scientists are learning more and more about the “red planet”, as it has already been called many times. The Nasa * rover “Perseverance” in particular has recently attracted a lot of attention. By drilling into Mars * rock, the researchers want to find out details about previous microbial life. A second drilling through “Perseverance” was recently successful *. Material is now to be sent to earth so that it can be examined there.
But not only this NASA mission in space research * brings exciting details about Mars to light. One example of this thesis is the Mars rover “Curiosity”, which has been researching on Mars for more than nine years. Data from the rover from last year now show that there are rock formations on Mars that could possibly protect astronauts inside from the deadly radiation in the future. The rover recently discovered a “strange structure”, as experts put it.
Mars: Nasa rover discovers a “strange structure”
The discovery in the “Curiosity” mission also revolved around rocks on Mars: In the so-called Gale crater, a crater with a total of 154 kilometers in diameter, the rover encountered a stone arch. Mars geologist Gwénaël Caravaca described the arch as a “strange structure” and emphasized on Twitter that the “fragile structure” could also be interpreted as a DNA strand or a snake.
Abigail Fraeman, planetary geologist at NASA, called the discovery in a press release a “particularly whimsical picture of an interesting stone texture”. She is “confused by the nature” of the structure. Bumps and lumps that are several inches tall are very rare, according to Fraeman.
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The “Curiosity” Mars rover came across it while exploring the transition zone between the clay-containing and sulphate-containing area of the Gale crater. According to NASA, both regions are considered to be potential areas in which the experts are looking for evidence of water.
However, evidence of this is very rare. The Gale crater is considered a dusty area in specialist circles, in which numerous materials occur that are probably insensitive to erosion. For example, researchers recently discovered a Mars mineral that has not yet been found on Earth. (tu) * fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
