Space & Astronomy

NASA image shows what looks like a door on Mars

By T.K. Randall
May 12, 2022

Image: Curiosity Rover
Credit: (PD) NASA/JPL-Caltech via Wikimedia Commons We've seen a lot of strange and unusual items on the surface of Mars over the years including everything from a set of traffic lights to a perfect reproduction of Beaker from The Muppets.

While these can typically be explained away as examples of pareidolia ( the tendency for the human brain to see meaningful shapes in otherwise abstract patterns ), this latest photograph isn't so easily dismissed and appears to show a distinctive opening in a rock face on the Martian surface.

The picture, which was taken of a geological feature known as Greenheugh Pediment by Curiosity's Mast Camera on May 7th, has sparked considerable debate since appearing online.While it's tempting to imagine that this is some sort of artificially built doorway, it is in fact most likely to be a naturally occurring geological feature and not the work of intelligent extraterrestrials.

Some users have suggested that it is a shear fracture, which is created when forces on the rock cause chunks of it to break off. In this case, the piece that has fallen off happens to look door-shaped.

The full image can be viewed - here (the 'door' is left of center towards the top.)

Source: Science Alert

Tags: Mars, Door