Mars Curiosity Fires Laser on Red Planet; Ancient Structures Spotted? [VIDEOS]
NASA announced Monday the Curiosity rover on Mars has successfully fired its laser on a Martian soil target, causing a pit to form. Meanwhile, UFO watchers and paranormal speculators remain curious of what the space science agency could be keeping from the public. A YouTube video tackles what might be some ancient structures on the red planet.
"During the 271st Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (May 11, 2013), ChemCam fired its laser at a soil target informally named "Sutton Inlier." ChemCam's remote micro-imager (RMI) recorded a series of images during this activity, documenting the formation of a pit during a burst of laser shots," NASA announced on its website. (See image above.)
The repeated laser blasts gradually created a hole, which can be seen in the animation below. This NASA-released time lapse movie covers 20 minutes of laser shots. The soil target was 9 feet (2.75 meters) away from the Curiosity ChemCam's laser blaster at the time of the shooting. The image you see above covers 1.1 inches (28 millimeters) across, according to NASA.
"The first five image frames were taken with only one laser shot between consecutive frames. The crater formed as soon as the first laser shot hit the target. Then, because the laser beam came from a slanting angle, not vertically, soil grains collapsed downslope into the hole, causing the crater to move slightly," reads the NASA statement.
Meanwhile, UFO observers continue to look for clues that could reveal past or present life on Mars. UFO watcher Scott C. Waring posted to YouTube a video of his Mars photo observations.
"I was looking over the Google Mars map and came across 3 structures. I wanted to record these structures since NASA has deleted some others I reported and so has Google Earth Map," Waring writes on the video description. Quick commenters point out Waring is merely looking at Martian rocks, not suspicious structures. Scroll down if you think Waring might be on to something.
VIDEO: 'Structures Discovered On Mars Using Google Earth, June 2013' - UFO Observer Scott Waring
More 'Mars Curiosity' and Odd News Features:
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Curiosity Mars Controversial Photos: The Rodent, the Flower, the Shiny Object and the Giant Ruins [PHOTOS, VIDEOS]
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