NASA Mars Orbiter Captures "Mysterious Shapes" Inside Crater

Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has found something weird inside one of the Red Planet's craters. In a blog post, MRO team member Paul Geissler wrote that the orbiter captured images of "mysterious shapes."

As seen in detailed images taken using MRO's HiRise camera, the new finding has got astronomers' attention. The patterns evidenced on the surface of Mars and his team believe could represent the permanent marks left by Martian ice heated by the Sun. It could be a glimpse into the Red Planet's extensive and water-rich history.

Intriguing Markings Hint Watery History

The deposits were only discovered inside craters in the northern plains of Arabia Terra, a highly eroded region north of Mars' equator. Surprisingly, not all craters in the same region featured these mysterious deposits.

As per Geissler, the markings were only seen in craters that measure 2,000 feet across and larger, not for those around 1,500 feet in diameter or smaller.

"The deposits have horizontal laminations that could be layers or terraces," Geissler wrote. "The deposits also have radial striations formed by small bright ridges."

The team suspects these markings could have been caused by ice-rick material turning from a solid into a gas, and each terrace shows a different stage of this process.

Did Mars Really Have Water?

Scientists suggest the Red Planet was once filled with water, which later turned into ice that dripped into Mars' surface throughout billions of years.

"Perhaps the larger craters penetrated to a water table between [147] and [196 feet] below the surface and were flooded after formation," the blog post added. The disappearance of ice on the planet might have caused these fascinating landscapes to form over time.

Other craters, including the "Happy Face" found in the planet's icy southern pole region, are said to have formed due to frost over many years. While it can't be said for sure what's the reason behind the latest findings, they offer a sneak peek into the kind of discoveries NASA's Orbiter can still make, despite being deployed more than 17 years ago.