Planet Mars remains a mystery to space researchers. Recently, researchers at the United States Space Agency (NASA) discovered rock formations similar to sandworms.
Collect CNET, the rock formations appear to be resisting erosion on Mars. Is an explorer’s vehicle NASA Curiosity who discovered the arch-shaped rock formation.
The ‘sand worm’ was discovered by Curiosity while exploring Gale Crater, where Mount Sharp is located. Curiosity, which has been on Mars since 2011, took a close-up photo of a small, slightly rough arc.
Scientist Kevin Gill then arranged the images into a mosaic. NASA planetary geologist Abigail Fraeman said Curiosity’s rock formations were very interesting.
“I continue to be fascinated by the textures we’re seeing, especially the prevalence of centimeter-sized bumps and bumps poking out of bedrock,” Fraeman said.
Curiosity’s image of the curve is only about 16.5 cm. As a result, the arch itself is thought to be small.
Planetary geologist Michelle Minitti said the arch seemed to have an erosion-resistant composition. To note, Gale Crater, where the arch was found, is a dusty and windy place.
After discovering the rock formations, Curiosity then continued its journey to the transition zone between the clay-bearing area (which is rich in minerals) and the sulfate-bearing area. In the past, the area was thought to be watery and is of interest to scientists to see if Mars could one day be microbial.
Rock formations shaped like sandworms were also spotted by NASA’s HiRISE camera. Citing the official NASA website, HiRISE is a camera mounted on the NASA Reconaissance Orbiter that is in the sky of MARS.
The HiRISE camera is capable of producing high-resolution images that are useful for researching the Martian surface. Launching Autoevolution, one of the photos produced by HiRISE is of rock formations like ‘sand worms’.
The reason is, the rock formations look elongated and higher than the surface of Mars. Allegedly, the shape was created due to wind and other factors.
“This is an example of an unusual variation in the shape of rock textures that have changed over a long period of time and the consistent climate on Mars. A Martian geomorphologist might classify it as a large ripple, depending on his perspective,” asked NASA and the University of Arizona, which operates HiRISE.
(ttf/lth)
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