What surprised the NASA scientists once again, is the gradually revealing Mars’ yet another unexpected feature – which are very dark and nearly circular, appearing to be openings to underground spaces! Thanks to its orbiting spacecraft, Mars Odyssey.
Are the seven dark, circular openings ‘caves’ on the slopes of a Martian volcano? The images sent back from the spacecraft seems to be something like caves.
The Mars Odyssey spacecraft has sent back images of very dark, nearly circular features that appear to be openings to underground spaces.
Glen Cushing of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Astrogeology Team and Northern Arizona University said,
They are cooler than the surrounding surface in the day and warmer at night.
Their thermal behavior is not as steady as large caves on Earth that often maintain a fairly constant temperature, but it is consistent with these being deep holes in the ground.
But, what leaves the scientists pondering is whether these are just deep vertical shafts or openings into spacious caverns — entries to the Mars’ subsurface?
Whatever, this eventually provides the experts with expectations that these caves might have ever protected life in the past or even presently – perhaps, a future shelter for humans!
Image: REUTERS/ Handout/NASA
