"Snake with Mouth Wide Open?"... Fascinating Terrain Captured on Mars [Reading Science]

NASA Releases Photos Taken by Rover Perseverance

A unique terrain photo taken by the US exploration rover 'Perseverance' on Mars. The rock on the right resembles a large snake opening its mouth, giving a similar impression to the devil's temple set in the movie 'Indiana Jones'. Photo by NASA

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The U.S. Mars exploration rover 'Perseverance' has sent photos of unusual terrain, including a snake-head-shaped rock reminiscent of the set of the "Temple of Doom" from the movie "Indiana Jones."

According to the U.S. space specialist media 'Space.com' on the 14th (local time), Perseverance captured and transmitted images of a Martian surface rock resembling the "Temple of Doom" featured in the movie "Indiana Jones" on the 12th. On the right side of the photo, there is a towering red rock with a large snake-shaped stone with its mouth open, and to its left is a landscape featuring a gray altar-like rock with a round stone placed on top.

Scientists at NASA, which operates Perseverance, are excited. These rocks were found in the ancient river delta inside the 45 km-wide Jezero Crater, where Perseverance has been exploring since February last year along with the Mars helicopter 'Ingenuity.' The presence of such unusual terrain features is known to increase the possibility of life existing on Mars.

Perseverance's main missions are twofold: to search for signs of life on Mars and to collect samples to bring back to Earth. The ancient delta region located within Jezero Crater is considered the most optimal area to find traces if life ever existed on Mars.

Meanwhile, U.S. Mars exploration rovers such as Perseverance and Curiosity have recently been sending photos of unusual terrain features believed to have been formed by water erosion and sedimentation on Mars. A representative example is last month's photo sent by Curiosity of a pointed object resembling a small mineral flower rising sharply in Gale Crater.