NASA’s Curiosity rover made a startling discovery while traversing Mars in mid-June, the space agency revealed in a statement released in late July.
The sophisticated astronomical equipment captured remarkable images on 19th and 20th June that revealed a distinctive, honeycomb-like pattern on the planet’s surface. The latest find was made more than a decade into Curiosity’s mission to explore Mars, NASA confirmed.
Scientifically termed “polygonal fractures,” the honeycomb-like formation was discovered in a Martian valley called Valle Grande and measured 1.5 to 3 inches.
NASA acknowledged that the rover has uncovered similar geometric formations on the planet’s surface previously. However, this particular pattern is unfamiliar to the scientific community.
“We’ve seen a lot of fascinating landscapes through Curiosity’s eyes, but this sea of polygons took our breath away,” project scientist Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement. “We measured their shapes and chemistry carefully and are hopeful there are clues in the data as to how these features formed.”
NASA described the “polygonal fractures” as extending as far as Curiosity is capable of observing from a steep hill that scientists have named Miraflores.
The origins of the discovery presently remain a mystery, NASA acknowledges. Nevertheless, emerging scientific theories suggest that temperature fluctuations could have caused water to penetrate through the sedimentary layers of Mars’ surface.
Nevertheless, scientists have warned that further research is required before any definitive conclusions can be drawn.
Previously, NASA stated that the space agency had identified polygons in the shape of mud cracks.
“Some of the polygons that the mission has spotted in the past clearly formed as mud cracks, though a variety of processes can contribute to their honeycomb textures, including cycles of warm and cold temperatures or compression that squeezed water out of the sediment when the surface was buried,” NASA said in the July 29 statement.
“These newly discovered polygons are among the many surprises Curiosity has trundled across since landing on Mars 14 years ago, on Aug. 5, 2012,” the statement continued.
“Besides sulfur crystals, shiny meteorites, and other interesting geologic features, the rover has made major discoveries about the ancient Martian environment – most importantly, that it had the water, chemistry, and nutrients to support microbial life.
“Billions of years ago, lakes and streams dappled the lower foothills of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that Curiosity has been ascending since 2014,” NASA said.
“The rover has previously uncovered chemistry left over from Mars’ watery history, including carbon-based molecules believed to be precursors to RNA and DNA, two nucleic acids that carry genetic information.”
NASA added, “Scientists have no way of knowing whether these organic molecules were created by biologic or geologic processes – either path is possible – but their discovery reconfirmed that ancient Mars had the right chemistry to support life.”