NASA scientists on Earth have managed to recreate the creepy black “spiders” that roam the surface of Mars. The discovery has had researchers screaming with joy and could help uncover more secrets about these mysterious structures.
“Spiders on Mars” is the name given to a geological feature, known as arachnid terrain, that can be seen on Multiple locations on the red planetIn these places, hundreds of dark, crack-like structures appear on the planet’s surface, each with hundreds of individual lines, or “legs.” Viewed from above, these tightly packed deformities, which can be more than 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) wide, It looks like a horde of spiders scurrying across the Martian landscape..
Spacecraft orbiting Mars first spotted spiders in 2003, and the features have continued to appear. Appeared in satellite images Since then. At first, these stationary spiders were a complete mystery, but scientists eventually figured out that the spiders form when carbon dioxide (CO2) ice on the planet’s surface suddenly sublimates — or turns into a gas without first melting into a liquid.
In a new study published on September 11, Journal of Planetary ScienceThe researchers simulated this process on a smaller scale using a specialized lab chamber to create a near-perfect miniature version of the spiders.
To the lead author of the study Lauren McKeon – A planetary geomorphologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, who has been working to recreate these spiders for five years – the birth of these Martian creatures was more than he could handle.
It was late Friday evening. [when the experiment succeeded] “The lab manager came in after hearing me scream,” McKeon said. statement“I thought there was an accident.”
Related to: 15 Martian Bodies That Aren’t What They Seem
In 2021, McKeon led a study The first to explain how spiders are formed – Through the path known as the Kiefer model.
This model showed that during the Martian spring, sunlight shines through the carbon dioxide ice sheets on the surface, heating the ground beneath. This in turn causes some of the ice to sublimate into gas, creating a buildup of pressure inside the ice sheets. When the pressure gets too high, the ice cracks, allowing the gas to escape. As the gas escapes from the ice, it carries a stream of dark dust and sand from the surface, leaving behind spider-like scars that appear when the ice completely melts during the Martian summer.
In the new study, the researchers put Kiefer’s model to the test by recreating these steps in a wine-barrel-sized chamber at JPL, known as the Dirty Vacuum Simulation Test for Icy Environments (DUSTIE), which recreated the extremely low pressure and temperature on the Martian surface — minus 301 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 185 degrees Celsius).
The team placed simulated Martian soil in the chamber and covered it with carbon dioxide snow. They then heated the mixture using a lamp placed under the simulated soil to simulate the warming effect of the sun.
“It took several attempts before McKeon found the right conditions to get the ice thick and transparent enough to make the experiments work,” NASA representatives wrote in the statement. But eventually, the ice opened up and gas leaked out of the hole for about 10 minutes before the frozen carbon dioxide finally disappeared, leaving behind one of the famous spiders.
The new study also reveals a hidden step in Kiefer’s model: Ice also formed inside the Earth, causing it to crack with the ice. This could explain why spiders’ legs have such a zigzag shape, the researchers wrote.
“It’s one of those details that shows that nature is a little messier than the textbook picture,” said one of the study’s authors. Serena Deniga, The planetary scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in the statement:
Researchers plan to conduct similar experiments to solve the biggest remaining mysteries about Martian spiders, including why they form in some places on Mars but not others and why their numbers don’t seem to grow every year.
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