Curiosity Sees Bizarre Spikes on Mars

The rover was on the surface of Mars for signs of past life after landing on the planet. Evidence that the crater was once a huge lakebed was found by the rover. Many of the images the rover took went viral after they were shared with the public. The tradition of seeing faces in random objects is alive and well when it comes to Mars.

There were spikes on the ground that the Mast Camera snapped a picture of. The material that survived the erosion of the surrounding rock is consistent with other evidence that shows how erosion and deposits were common in the crater. The crowd is going to have a field day with this one.

The image was taken by the Mast Camera on the Mars rover. The photo began to make the rounds after The SETI Institute offered a possible explanation for how the feature came about. When the surrounding rock eroded away, the spikes were likely to becemented filings of ancient fissures in the rock. There are possibilities for this.

Scientists have learned that the Gale crater was once a lake that had liquid water flowing into it. The Noachian period took place during this time. When Mars had a denser atmosphere, a warmer environment, and flowing water, it was 4.1 billion years ago. The formation of the rock layers that form the base of Mount Sharp can be traced back to the movement of water into the Gale crater. Mars still experiences large dust storms that can erode the rock faces.

There were a lot of suggestions and pet theories. It is possible that they are fulgurites, the tubes of glass found in sandy regions that form when lightning strikes and causes sand and rock to break. It is highly unlikely that this would happen. According to some research, lightning can happen during dust storms, but it has never been seen on Mars.

The atmosphere of Mars is too thin to hold the amount of electricity needed to generate powerful lightning strikes. This feature is not supported by either observational evidence or theoretical research, which suggests that it is statistically significant. Any lightning that could happen on Mars would be too rare and weak to account for.

There is a chance that this feature was caused by erosion. That won't deter a lot of speculation and crazy ideas. When it comes to Mars, it is a longstanding tradition. It goes back as far as Schiaparelli's " Canali" features, the " humanoid", the " wood plank", the "Jelly Donut", and the " Dinosaur skull"

There is further reading on NASA.