National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Curiosity rover has once again intrigued the scientists by sending the black and white images of coral-like rock formation in Mars’ Gale Crater.
According to the researchers, the discovery of the coral-like rock hints at the presence of ancient water on the planet, thereby fuelling the theories of possible life on Mars.
The images captured by using the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) demonstrated a branched structure measuring over an inch wide, exhibiting the convoluted patterns of earth-based coral branches found in the oceans.
NASA representatives issued a statement on August 4, saying, “Curiosity has found many rocks like this one, which were formed by the ancient water combined with billions of years of sandblasting by the wind.”
Experts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory shed light on the process of formation of rocks that started billions of years ago when the mineral rich water permeated into the Martian rock crevices. The gradual percolation resulted in the deposition of minerals, leading to the formation of solid veins inside the rocks.
Over the million years, strong currents of sand-laden wind wore away the rock, leaving behind the trails of veins.
This is not the first time that NASA’s rover has gathered the picture of this rock. Previously. It found the various rocks on Mars including Paposo and a tiny, flower-shaped object in Gale Crater in 2022.
Till now, the rover has unearthed abundant evidence regarding the life that once existed on Mars, including long carbon chains from 3.7 billion year old rocks.
Curiosity rover was sent to Mars in 2012 with the purpose of scanning the Martian surface and finding the traces of habitable life in the distant past. It has so far covered 22 miles of the 96 miles of the Gale Crater.