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Dark Spiders on the Surface of Mars Rise From Underneath, Are Not Actually Creatures

Despite decades of observation and very slim chances of the dream coming true, we’re yet to find definitive proof that there is still life left on planet Mars. We believe it might have existed, at one point in the past, but we were unable to find real traces of that either.
NASA calls these Martian features spiders 6 photos
Photo: NASA/JPL/UArizona
Planum Australe region of MarsPlanum Australe region of MarsPlanum Australe region of MarsPlanum Australe region of MarsPlanum Australe region of Mars
At the moment, there is one rover out there tasked with gathering samples that some other mission will pick up and bring back to Earth, where scientists could get a much better look at them. That moment is probably more than a decade away, so in the meantime, we’re left wondering if images such as the one we have here show some sign of living beings up there.

The image itself does not show that, of course, despite the strange way scientists choose to describe it. In their view, this slice of the planet’s South Pole comes with an infestation of dark spots and branching channels that in the purest scientific fashion are called spiders.

These spiders are not actually living creatures, but traces of carbon dioxide ice, of which there is aplenty under the planet’s surface in the region, which makes its way up and suffers sublimation, meaning it goes directly from a solid state to one of gas.

This image too, like all others of Mars we’ve been covering recently, was shot with the HiRISE camera. It’s a still from 2020, taken from an altitude of 247 km (153 miles) with the purpose of getting a “closer look at this layered butte” that can be guessed in this image.

By the time of this writing, there weren’t all that many missions meant to study the Martian South Pole from the ground. NASA did have something called the Polar Lander, which was supposed to “dig for water ice with a robotic arm,” but it was lost on arrival at the end of the 1990s.

So, for now, we’re left looking at HiRISE images of the place and wonder if there are really any spiders there.
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Editor's note: Gallery shows the Planum Australe region of Mars.

About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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