Speculation has been rife in recent days over a mysterious photo taken by Nasa’s Mars Curiosity rover.
The image, taken on Martian day Sol 3786 – known as April 1 on Earth – appeared to show a row of spiny protrusions, leading to a number of out-of-this-world guesses as to their origin.
A mackerel fillet, a fir tree branch, the skeleton of a prehistoric creature and ‘the back of a fossilised Martian dragon, curled up in its final resting place’ were among some of the suggestions, but it was astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol who identified it correctly.
‘In 20 years of studying Mars, that’s the most bizarre rock I have ever seen,’ she said. ‘I cannot wait to have a microscopic image of this one.’
Yes, unfortunately for those hoping to have discovered the first ever sign of alien life, it’s just a rock.
Nasa’s Andrew Good said: ‘The simplest explanation for a lot of the strange photos taken on Mars – like this one – is that billions of years ago, when water flowed on Mars, some of that water seeped through rocks, bringing harder minerals along with it.
‘These minerals settled into the rock and have been exposed after eons of sand being lifted by the wind and chipping away at the softer rock around it.
‘It’s definitely unique – but it’s also definitely a rock.’
It’s not the first time Curiosity’s ChemCam has taken a suitably curious photo. In February 2022, it captured a Martian ‘flower’ – again, made in the ancient past when minerals carried by water cemented the rock.
In 2016, the rover discovered ‘Egg Rock’, an iron-nickel meteorite about the size of a golf ball.
Since landing on the red planet on August 5, 2012, Curiosity has taken more than a million images of Mars. Its mission aim was to discover whether the planet once had the ingredients for microscopic life to exist – and it has. Gentling ambling around the Gale crater, it has proven the former presence of both water and the chemical building blocks needed for life.
And while there are no dragons on Mars, the rover has had to contend with knife-edged ‘gator-back’ terrain which can damage its wheels.
‘As soon as you land on Mars, everything you do is based on the fact that there’s no one around to repair it for 100million miles,’ said Andy Mishkin from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. ‘It’s all about making intelligent use of what’s already on your rover.’
This planning has already enabled Curiosity’s mission to be extended by three years, with many more years of Mars exploration expected.
MORE : Nasa unveils detailed 3D map of Mars that lets you zoom in on its craters
