Mars, as we know it, is a frigid and lifeless world - but a new study reveals a fresh hint to a much more happening past.
NASA’s Curiosity rover has found an array of medallion-sized, hexagonal mud cracks on the surface of Mars’ Gale Crater. The distinctive shape of these patterns suggests the Red Planet was once much balmier and that it cycled through wet and dry episodes for millions of years, according to a new study published in Nature.
These conditions are theorized to lead to the emergence of life - at least to the extent of allowing microscopic life to form - says a new post from @MarsCuriosity on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“It’s quite a unique formation,” says study author William Rapin, a planetary scientist at the French Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology. “It’s the first time we’ve seen that on Mars, actually, and it tells us a lot of details on how the climate was working at the time,” he told Vice.
The rover snapped photos of the unusual patterns caked onto the ruddy landscape as it scaled the three-mile-high Mount Sharp in Gale Crater. These cracks resemble the polygonal formations found in salt flats on Earth, such as those in Death Valley, reports Science. Since these ridges on Earth formed during periodic wet-dry seasons, the scientists suspect that Mars once had a similar climate.
The recurring bouts of wet and dry conditions could have unlocked life on Mars, says a statement from NASA. For life to emerge on a planet, it requires just the right amount of liquid water - not too much and not too little, either. As it turns out, a series of wet and dry spells might be just what life needs.
Is there life on Mars? Or was there? Scientists aren't yet ready to answer that question, but belief in the possibility is growing.