The exploration of space and its planets never ceases to amaze us, and as a demonstration of this, one of the recent discoveries made on Mars has caused great wonder, where a rock formation was found that immediately made us think of a rudimentary snowman. The photo was taken by NASA’s Perseverance rover, involved in the Mars 2020 mission.
The photo that thrilled the world
The shot that reached us aroused wonder and amazement, so much so that it bounced on social media. The two rock spheres immortalized by Perseveranceplaced one above the other, they really do have the shape of a snowman. Apparently the shot dates back to last July 13 (Sol 1208 on Mars) and was taken by the Right Mastcam-Z camera mounted on the Perseverance rover. The robot of the NASA has been on a mission to the Red Planet for some time and aims to explore the Jezero crater, where it has been located since February 18, 2021.
The encounter with the “snowman” occurred just as the rover, busy exploring the area, was changing position. Clearly the “snowman” is not made of snow, it is real rock formations. But can you have snow on Mars? In theory it is not impossible. According to what experts have explained, even though it has a thin atmosphere, the Red Planet is still capable of generating a dynamic climate with even extreme meteorological events, such as abundant snow. Moreover, in the past, the atmosphere of the celestial body in question was decidedly denser, therefore the possibility of finding water on the surface, and for a long time, was concrete. It is also well known that on Mars there is waterfalland it is hypothesized that it may currently be mostly located beneath the surface of the polar regions.
The importance of the shot
A “rock man”, rather than a “snow man”, although that may not be the case in the future.
The discovery of this rock formation is important, because the exploration of Martian rocks helps us understand the composition of the planet, making it less unknown to us. Recently, in fact, NASA’s Curiosity robot had the opportunity to examine some rocks found in the Gediz Vallis channel, finding inside them some sulfur. A very rare element on Mars.