NASA have made a strange discovery – spiderweb structures covering an unexplored region of Mars.
The structures were caught on NASA’s Discovery Rover, which roams the Red Planet to gather more information. They sent it to check out the six to 12-mile radius of the spotted spiderwebs. Although the research is early, NASA suspect it could be connected to alien life on Mars. Geologists have surveyed the data and concluded the structures could be made of boxwork, a hardened mineral found on Earth, mostly in caves.
It’s made by leaking calcium carbonate mineral water which falls into gaps and cracks in the Earth and harden. It’s thought to range 3,800 yards (3.4km) across the planet, near to the equator.
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(Image: National Park Services)
Scientists say there used to be seawater on Mars, which would have caused these structures. However, they believe the water holds fossils, which could give a stronger understanding of alien life and what used to be on Mars – and other planets.
Adding to this, a recent discovery by Australian researchers looked into life on Mars. A Martian meteorite, which crashed in Northwest Africa 4.43 billion years ago, provided evidence of warmer water on Mars. They think this would have been ideal conditions of aquatic life.
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The Curiosity Rover has been surveying the planet for years and contributed to the discovery that Mars had water around two billion years ago. This was more recent than experts initially thought.
(Image: NASA/AFP via Getty Images)
However, a huge climate catastrophe caused all the water to disappear and leave the planet stripped to its barren state we know today. A few months ago, scientists discovered strange spider-like shapes across Mars and looked into their true origin.
Upon closer inspection, they were actually not spiders but cracks and forms developed over time on the surface of the planet. The most popular theory drawn from the discovery is a process created in which carbon dioxide ice reacts with the atmosphere to create raised features. This first appeared in The Planetary Science Journal.
To test this, scientists recreated the surface of Mars in the laboratory and found if enough temperature and carbon dioxide was applied, the spider formations would be made.
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