Martian Caves to Explore

Okay, this has almost nothing to do with nanotechnology, but it's so cool I just have to report it.

From an article by Emily Lakdawalla on the Planetary Society Weblog:

Today's set of image releases from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE team included this one, of a fairly bland-looking lava plain to the northeast of Arsia Mons. Bland, that is, except for a black spot in the center. What's that black spot? It's a window onto an underground world.

This black spot is one of seven possible entrances to subterranean caves identified on Mars. . . The hope for the HiRISE images was that we could see some details from inside the hole. But as you can see by the [image below], there is absolutely nothing visible inside that hole. It's black black black black black. . .

Think about that. All these orbiters at Mars, and most of them are just seeing the surface and atmosphere. To be sure, there are two instruments up there -- MARSIS on Mars Express and SHARAD on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter -- that are probing the shape of the subsurface with ground-penetrating radar. But neither of those instruments have the resolution necessary to tell us what the inside of this cave looks like. It might as well be in the greatest depths of space. Here there be dragons. What's down there? Are there stalactites and stalagmites and crystals, or is it just a vast open room or tunnel?

Hat tip to Jamais Cascio, who tells us:

What's particularly exciting about these caves is that they may be the best places to find extant life on Mars. According to USGS scientists [PDF]:

Subterranean void spaces may be the only natural structures on Mars capable of protecting life from a range of significant environmental hazards. With an atmospheric density less than 1% of the Earth’s and practically no magnetic field, the Martian surface is essentially unprotected from micro-meteoroid bombardment, solar flares, UV radiation and high-energy particles from space.

Thermal imaging of the voids show that they maintain a relatively constant temperature, remaining relatively warm in the cold Martian night.

Anybody want to go caving?

Mike Treder

Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog

Comments

[jim moore]

Has any one else been looking around on google Mars?

I have an let me tell you that place is weird. I do not think that all of those circular excavations can be impact craters. If they were impact craters why would almost ALL of them be perfect circles? Too make a circular impact crater a meteorite would have to hit mars at a particular angle , most should have hit with a more glancing blow ? (shouldn't they?)
What is with all of the bulls eye craters?
If you look the blister like area (above and to the left of the big "volcano") and you look at some of the cracks at high magnification in infrared you will see that it looks like someone took a circular punch and made the some of the cracks

[Michael handy]

It does seem like an impact that makes a circular shape should come from a 90 degree angle, however thats not the case. An astroid impact initially only makes a very small,narrow hole. However, the force transfered to the ground surrounding the impact causes a great upswelling. this explodes to the surface making a circular depression.

Think of all those world war 1 and 2 bomb craters, they impacted at an angle and still came out roughly circular. Some elongated asteroid craters do exist, but they had an extremely shallow angle of impact (interestingly the angle of impact can be known by observing the 'rays' of matter thrown from the collision).

In response to the original post, perhaps an asteroid hit a vast underground cavern, or perhaps its just a partially collapsed lava tube. Has anyone tried a laser rangefinder on these holes? surely we must have put one on the spacecraft.

[Zack Lynch]

very, very cool catch. There is something very beautiful these cave openings.