Jun 08, 2022 19:00:00

Martian unmanned spacecraft Curiosity discovers 'strangely twisted rock tower'

NASA and the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute have released photos of the 'strangely twisted rock tower' in the photos taken by the Mars rover

Curiosity on Mars.

Curiosity Has Found Some Truly Weird-Looking, Twisty Rock Towers on Mars
https://www.sciencealert.com/check-out-the-twisting-towers-of-rock-curiosity-found-on-mars

Curiosity is a rover with a total length of 3 m and a total weight of 900 kg mounted on the spacecraft ' Mars Science Laboratory ' launched in November 2011. Curiosity is equipped with a plutonium-238 nuclear battery, and is characterized by its ability to run at night and in places not exposed to the sun. In addition, the tip of the mast at the top center of the main unit is equipped with a camera that can acquire up to 10 frames per second of color images in 720p HD image quality, and it is possible to send the taken pictures to the earth.

Below are the photos released by the SETI Institute. The SETI Institute said, 'This is another cool rock in the Martian'Gale'crater . This protrusion seems to be like cement that fills an ancient crevice in sedimentary rock. The rest of the rock was eroded because it was made of a softer material. ' The photo was taken on May 17, 2022.

#PPOD : Here is another cool rock at Gale crater on Mars! The spikes are most likely the cemented fillings of ancient fractures in a sedimentary rock. The rest of the rock was made of softer material and was eroded away. ????: @NASA @NASAJPL @Caltech #MSSS fredk, acquired on May 17. pic.twitter.com/RGfjmRBfI7

— The SETI Institute (@SETI Institute) May 26, 2022

The RAW images released by NASA are as follows, and are in black and white.

Rocks like those taken by Curio City this time have also been observed on Earth. For example, in Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, USA, the following 'rock towers' have been formed due to the erosion of sedimentary rocks by wind and water.

by Anna Irene

Gale is said to be a remnant of what was once a large lake when there was water on Mars, and the finding of such sedimentary rock erosion in Gale may be evidence of a large amount of water in Gale. That's also possible, says Science Alert, a science news site.

The rock tower photographed by Curio City has been eroded to the extent that it is about to collapse, but it is thought that Mars has not collapsed because it has less gravity than the Earth.