What appears to be a large hole as wide as a football field on the planet Mars has been discovered by orbiting NASA spacecraft. It raises questions about whether it might be a cradle for life, offering protection from the harsh Martian environment.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed the hole, following up on its discovery by the Mars Odyssey Mission in early 2007. The hole photographed above is just one of seven discovered so far, and further exploration may reveal a vast network of caverns beneath the Red Planet’s soil.
Mars lacks the protections found on Earth to shield life as we know it to exist, protections such as an atmosphere or magnetosphere to absorb and deflect lethal radiation from our sun. Early life on Earth is thought to have gotten its start deep in the oceans, which act like a UV sunscreen. Scientists have speculated that deep inside of caves might be the only place to find Martian life.
Anyone can explore Mars from the safety of their computer by visiting this easy-to-use website of breathtaking images from the HiRISE camera of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Wow! In 1990 I wrote a short story (never published) about the first mission to Mars in which they discovered primitive life in a pool of liquid water deep in a cavern on the slopes of Olympus Mons. The idea of caves on Mars must have been common then:
“Medical officer Dr. David Muldoon recognized little on the small screen except the pool of water. It lay in a crater on top of a cone-like heap of material four meters across at the base and three meters high. Bubbles formed in the clear liquid, which amounted to no more than three or four gallons. Viewing the video from the mouth of the fissure, Muldoon saw Semyonov’s hand pointing toward the rim of the pool. ‘Magnify a bit, please’ Muldoon requested. A slight discoloration marked the edge of the water.
“‘It’s gelatinous,’ Semyonov said as he adjusted the magnification. ‘It’s — slimy, colorless, and looks for all the world like pond slime. You know what I think . . .’
“‘Let’s not jump to conclusions, Pyotr.’ Semyonov paused just long enough for Muldoon to jump in. ‘There are other explanations. A mineral deposit or something.’ The doctor moved a few inches closer to the screen and examined it open-mouthed for a few moments. ‘Maybe.’
“A hundred meters below, Gail had just landed on the cavern floor. She gathered her equipment together into a pile and walked down to the mound where Semyonov stood. She climbed up and examined the pool. Then she turned and looked at Semyonov, eyes wide and mouth dumbstruck. When she could speak, it was just three words, over and over. ‘It IS alive.’”
LS
Doesn’t this cave just scream to be explored? I can see the Martians down there right now going through their daily routine in the underground chambers that are lit by mirrows channeling sunlight from this surface hole. Maybe NASA should park a satellite over the cave for awhile. I wonder how close this cave is to the “face” on Mars?
The picture just doesn’t look real. I wonder if it’s been enhanced somehow …
?
The picture was taken by the HiRISE camera of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. There’s more about it at this link, which describes it as operating at visible wavelengths.
What’s pictured above is just a close-up of a bigger image taken from space of Mars that can be found at NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day.
Speaking of enhanced pictures, New Scientist has an image of what appear to be “puddles” on Mars. They’re “stereoscopic reconstructions” of NASA images showing small, bluish ponds. It’s a controversial idea to say the least in part because Mars has very little atmosphere, and atmospheric pressure is what keeps ponds here on Earth from evaporating forever.
I thought exactly the same thing, but that is the way it looks on the HIRES site. Here is what that site says about the image:
“This image shows a very dark spot on an otherwise bright dusty lava plain to the northeast of Arsia Mons, one of the four giant Tharsis volcanoes.
“This is not an impact crater as it lacks a raised rim or ejecta. What’s amazing is that we cannot see any detail in the shadow! The cutout shows this dark spot and a version that is “stretched” to best see the darkest area, yet we still cannot see details except noise.
“The HiRISE camera is very sensitive and we can see details in almost any shadow on Mars, but not here. We also cannot see the deep walls of the pit. The best interpretation is that this is a collapse pit into a cavern or at least a pit with overhanging walls. We cannot see the walls because they are either perfectly vertical and extremely dark or, more likely, overhanging.
“The pit must be very deep to prevent detection of the floor from skylight, which is quite bright on Mars.”
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_003647_1745
LS
This should be a monster news story. Instead Im hearing about Paris Hilton. An underground network of Mars caves? Shielding from the sun? Underground, where the water is? The place might be crawling with Mars centipedes, and Mars bats, and all kinds of creepy crawling things. This could be the discovery of the century. Maybe its even artificial?
It does invite exploration! Surely, we’ll go there …
A remarkable image. At first glance it appears to be “enhanced” but due to the technology being used and other aspects mentioned by Mr sessions, it would appers to be a cave or extremely deep depression in the surface. I truly hope that this type of anomaly is slated for intensive exploration in the near future. Hopefully this will help jumpstart the media out of it’s infantile mentality and into a more mature, productive mindset. Paris Hilton is not news, just a sad sideline to life.
I am intrigued by the white debris around the “northern” rim of crater. Since this is not an impact site, what could it be? Is it a reflection from the surrounding stata? Just something I noticed. I can’t wait to see what comes of this discovery. Truly remarkable.
Hi, fizzlingsynapse (what a wonderful handle!)
I am purely guessing, and have not checked this, but even if there is no protrusion or rim around this feature, if there is a pervailing wind from the bottom of the photo, turbulence as it the air crosses over the open space will likely produce a kind of horizontal rolling vortex on the opposite side (top of hole), which no doubt will break off pieces of material and deposit them downwind to form the lighter colored deposit. Again, this is just a guess off the top of my head.
LS