Exactly 14 years ago, on March 26, 2003, researchers discovered a frozen sea on Mars. Scientists suggested that about 5 million years ago, the region where this water body with an area of 800 by 900 km is located was flooded, after which the water froze, and crustal deposits layered on top of the ice. It seems that Mars, together with the Earth, passed through the period of the Great Ices. On Earth, this era ended only 12-12 thousand years ago.
According to data obtained from comic devices, there has always been a lot of water on Mars. The photographs clearly show an extensive river network and large river valleys, reminiscent of the famous Colorado Canyon in the United States. However, the next few million years were enough for the "Red Planet" to turn into a lifeless space object with frozen seas and rivers covered with red magnetic sand. By the way, Mars has been called the "Red Planet" since time immemorial. The fact is that during the period when the planet is as close as possible to the Earth, it looks in the night sky like a hanging large bright red disk and always causes an inexplicable disturbing feeling in people. It is most likely that now frozen water bodies on Mars are covered with red sands - these are particles of the weathering crust of deep rocks. Today on Earth there is a similar dust in India and Africa, which is raised by winds on dirt roads.
In honor of the anniversary of the first discovery of a frozen sea on Mars, we recall the most amazing and stunning finds ever found by researchers on the Red Planet. Here are the TOP-10 sensational finds of rovers:
1. BONES OF AN UNKNOWN CREATURE
At the end of the summer of 2014, the Curiosity rover took a sensational picture - the device managed to capture the bones of an unknown Martian creature. Presumably, a femur lies on the surface of Mars. According to theorists, the find suggests that large animals like dinosaurs once roamed the Red Planet.
Promotional video:
2. HUMAN PERSON
Back in 1976, NASA released images of a fossil on a planet shaped like a human face from above. The face on Mars is already a well-known landform in the Kydonia region, which has become the object of a huge number of newspaper "ducks", fantastic and pseudoscientific theories about a possible message to earthlings from alien civilizations and other high-profile ideas explaining the possible reasons for the formation of a mountain of such an interesting shape.
3. SNOW MAN
In 2007, the Spirit rover sent an unusual photograph to Earth, in which Bigfoot is clearly visible. This news fired the imagination of supporters of the theory that NASA is hiding a lot from the public, in particular with regard to events on the Red Planet. Someone clearly saw a clear female figure in the frame, someone believes that this is an exact copy of the "Yeti", but disputes about the authenticity of the photo continue to this day. Skeptics are sure that this is just an accumulation of clay, sand and mud in the place where in ancient times there was a sea or a lake.
4. RAT
In 2013, the Curiosity rover captured on the surface of Mars another representative of the "rich animal world" of the Red Planet - a large rat or lizard. NASA specialists once again referred to the bizarre shape of the planet's relief.
5. BLUEBERRY
In 2012, the Opportunity rover took the most incredible images in the entire history of the mission - launched back in 2004, then for the first time it sent something amazing and interesting to Earth. The photographs show small spherical bodies that outwardly resemble small berries, which were immediately dubbed "Martian blueberries." Experts have suggested that these spherical bodies on the red planet were formed during a humid climate with the help of water and microbes that lived in it. According to another version, the balls are composed of hematite.
6. GIANT FLYING SPOON
In 2015, researchers' attention was drawn to an unusual rocky ledge on the Red Planet, which looks like a spoon floating in the air. The fact that the given object "hovered" in the air is evidenced by the formed shadow under it. Virtual archaeologists have put forward a version that this spoon cannot be a creation of nature, although by whom it was created and for what purpose they have not yet been able to explain.
7. CRAB
This time, the Internet was alarmed by another series of images of the rocks of the Curiosity rover. Millions of users have seen a giant crab in the image. The photo spread across the world wide web with great speed, the most active supporters of the "conspiracy theory", which was mentioned above, even asked to return the rover to the same rock in order to take a closer look at this creature, which resembles a crab, a large spider or "alien".
8. PETROLEUM FINGER
In 2012, on the mysterious planet, something similar to a human mummified severed finger with a nail was documented. And why only NASA specialists and all other scientists see only stones everywhere?
9. THE DISAPPEARING DONUT
At the very beginning of 2014, the device again puzzled the public with a pebble that suddenly appeared in its field of view, similar to a donut with jam. The mystery is that at first there was nothing in its place, and a few days later this donut suddenly appeared, and the next moment the stone disappeared again.
10. HELMET
The image was taken in April 2013. Ufologists saw on him a helmet from the First World War, and Internet users - a felt hat of the English fashion of 150 years ago. Well, others are sure that the photo is an alien chamber pot. No one could even think about the curiosities of the wild.
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