{"id":791455,"date":"2024-11-25T07:13:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T12:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=791455"},"modified":"2024-11-25T07:13:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T12:13:00","slug":"mars-rover-curiosity-heads-for-intriguing-spiderwebs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=791455","title":{"rendered":"Mars rover Curiosity heads for intriguing \u2018spiderwebs\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_493672\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-493672\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-493672\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">View larger. | NASA\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of a network of spiderweb-like ridges \u2013 called boxwork by scientists \u2013 on Mount Sharp in Gale crater on Mars on December 10, 2006. Soon, the Mars rover Curiosity will start heading toward the intriguing features. Image via NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ University of Arizona.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Curiosity rover on Mars has been exploring the ancient channel Gediz Vallis<\/strong> for the past year. The channel is on Mount Sharp, the high point in the midst of Mars\u2019 Gale crater, where Curiosity \u2013 a robot on wheels \u2013 has been exploring since 2012.<\/li>\n<li><strong>An intriguing geologic formation resembling giant spiderwebs<\/strong> on Mount Sharp is the rover\u2019s next destination. Curiosity will soon start rolling toward it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The ridges in the formation span several miles<\/strong>. How did they form? Scientists say that ancient Mars water holds the key and that salty mineral-ridge water likely evaporated and left the ridges behind when softer rock around them eroded away.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Looking for an ideal astronomy-related Christmas gift? The 2025 EarthSky lunar calendar is now available! A unique and beautiful poster-sized calendar. A fantastic holiday gift!<\/p>\n<p>NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover on Mars has been busy studying the Gediz Vallis channel on Mount Sharp in Gale crater for the past year. Scientists say that either an ancient river or debris flows likely carved the channel eons ago. It was here that the rover found stones containing pure sulfur crystals, which the mission team is still puzzling over. Now, Curiosity is ready to begin the next phase of its journey. <\/p>\n<p>NASA said this month that Curiosity will soon begin traveling to an intriguing set of web-like patterns called boxwork. The boxwork formations look like giant spiderwebs or honeycombs, extending for miles on Mount Sharp. They likely formed as the last remaining surface water in this part of Mars dried up.<\/p>\n<p>The rover also took a stunning 360-degree panoramic image looking back at Gediz Vallis. See the panorama below.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_493678\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-493678\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2024\/11\/Gediz-Vallis-panorama-Curiosity-Mars-November-2-2024.jpg\" alt=\"Flat reddish terrain, covered in rocks, with layered hills in the distance under a pink sky.\" width=\"800\" height=\"202\" class=\"size-full wp-image-493678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2024\/11\/Gediz-Vallis-panorama-Curiosity-Mars-November-2-2024.jpg 800w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2024\/11\/Gediz-Vallis-panorama-Curiosity-Mars-November-2-2024-300x76.jpg 300w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2024\/11\/Gediz-Vallis-panorama-Curiosity-Mars-November-2-2024-768x194.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-493678\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">View larger. | Curiosity captured this stunning panorama as it looked back at the Gediz Vallis channel on November 2, 2024. Click to see it full size! Image via NASA\/ JPL-Caltech\/ MSSS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Curiosity Rover Leaves Gediz Vallis Channel (360 View)\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sbfODUMgfcw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Geological \u2018spiderwebs\u2019 on Mars<\/h3>\n<p>Currently, Curiosity is traveling along the western edge of Gediz Vallis. It will take a few more panoramic images before heading to the boxwork. The boxwork is a geological formation of intersecting ridges stretching for miles. It spans across 6 to 12 miles (10 to 20 km). As seen from above, it looks like giant spiderwebs, though of course it\u2019s a geologic feature, not created by giant spiders. But did life play a role in its formation?<\/p>\n<p>So how <em>did<\/em> these \u201cspiderwebs\u201d form? Mars is a dry desert today, but it apparently once had liquid water on its surface. The boxwork <em>probably<\/em> resulted from the last water in this region disappearing. As scientists have explained it, the water carried minerals into fractures in surface rock. Those minerals later hardened and cemented themselves in the fractures. The surrounding rock was softer and gradually eroded away, leaving behind the now-hardened fractures as intersecting ridges.<\/p>\n<p>Such boxwork exists on Earth as well. But it is typically seen in caves and on cliff faces. But on Mars, the boxwork sprawls across the landscape.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also possible living microbes once lived here, billions of years ago. On the early Earth, microorganisms thrived in similar conditions with salty, mineralized water. As Curiosity scientist Kirsten Siebach at Rice University in Houston, Texas, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>These ridges will include minerals that crystallized underground, where it would have been warmer, with salty liquid water flowing through. Early Earth microbes could have survived in a similar environment. That makes this an exciting place to explore.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Gediz Vallis channel: a region of Mars that could have had rivers, wet debris flows, and dry avalanches billions of years ago.<a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarsCuriosity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MarsCuriosity<\/a> snapped this image before departing the channel, an area that&#8217;s given the team plenty of puzzles to investigate:  <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PGfXd57LjU\">pic.twitter.com\/PGfXd57LjU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASAJPL\/status\/1858677692964777996?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 19, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Unusual sulfur rocks<\/h3>\n<p>Last July, NASA reported that Curiosity had discovered something never seen before on Mars: rocks containing crystals of pure sulfur. The rover found them in the Gediz Vallis channel. When Curiosity rolled over one of the stones, the wheel crushed it, revealing yellow crystals inside. What were they made of? As it turned out, the answer was <em>pure sulfur<\/em>. On Earth, pure sulfur can be associated with volcanic activity and hot springs. But the mission team hasn\u2019t seen evidence of either of those explanations yet. It has, however, found evidence for ancient rivers, wet debris flows and dry avalanches, as well as the lake that once filled Gale crater.<\/p>\n<p>So as of now, mission scientists don\u2019t know how the pure sulfur formed there. As Curiosity project scientist Ashwin Vasavada at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California noted:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We looked at the sulfur field from every angle \u2013 from the top and the side \u2013 and looked for anything mixed with the sulfur that might give us clues as to how it formed. We\u2019ve gathered a ton of data, and now we have a fun puzzle to solve.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">*Cronch* I ran over a rock and found crystals inside!<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s pure sulfur. (And no, it doesn\u2019t smell.) Elemental sulfur is something we\u2019ve never seen before on Mars. We don&#8217;t know much about these yellow crystals yet, but my team is excited to investigate.  <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/coIqWWGGJq\">pic.twitter.com\/coIqWWGGJq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarsCuriosity\/status\/1814010317195858323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Bottom line: NASA\u2019s Mars rover Curiosity is ready to leave an ancient river channel it\u2019s been exploring. Next, it\u2019ll go to a geological formation resembling giant spiderwebs.<\/p>\n<p>Via NASA\/JPL<\/p>\n<p>Read more: Martian rock crushed by Curiosity hides a surprise!<\/p>\n<p>Read more: Dragon bones on Mars? Curiosity spies weird rocks<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"cp-load-after-post\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-author\">\n<h4>Paul Scott Anderson<\/h4>\n<p>                    View Articles\n                  <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-tags\">\n<h6 data-udy-fe=\"text_7c58270d\">About the Author:<\/h6>\n<p>Paul Scott Anderson has had a passion for space exploration that began when he was a child when he watched Carl Sagan\u2019s Cosmos. He studied English, writing, art and computer\/publication design in high school and college. He later started his blog The Meridiani Journal in 2005, which was later renamed Planetaria. He also later started the blog Fermi Paradoxica, about the search for life elsewhere in the universe.&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\nWhile interested in all aspects of space exploration, his primary passion is planetary science and SETI. In 2011, he started writing about space on a freelance basis with Universe Today. He has also written for SpaceFlight Insider and AmericaSpace and has also been published in The Mars Quarterly. He also did some supplementary writing for the iOS app Exoplanet.&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\nHe has been writing for EarthSky since 2018, and also assists with proofing and social media.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/mars-rover-curiosity-spiderwebs-boxwork-mount-sharp-mars\/?rand=772280\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>View larger. | NASA\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of a network of spiderweb-like ridges \u2013 called boxwork by scientists \u2013 on Mount Sharp in Gale crater on Mars&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":791456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-791455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-sky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=791455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/791456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=791455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=791455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=791455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}