This secretive picture taken by the Mars Spirit Rover was taken in 2004 shortly after landing safely on the red planet. However not until January 2008 when it was identified by an amateur astronomer pouring over the images, was the discovery bought to the publics attention.

Martian Landscape and Figure & No.5

To some, the image shows what appears to be a female figure with her head turned away from shot with her arm posed across her waist whilst sitting on a martian rock. Also of interest within the image is what appears to be the number ’5′ etched into the nearby martian dust.

Given our interest in the martian landscape and the continued search for extraterrestrial life on the planet it is not surprising that the connection was made. However, past ‘sightings’ of strange structures (1976 photographs of the Cydonia region of Mars) have of course been identified, which following a further fly past by the rover team revealed the ‘face on mars’ to be nothing more than martian rocks distorted through shadows.

Female Figure on The Martian Red Planet?

It is also of note that we draw ‘human’ similarities with the figure. This event, termed ‘pareidolia’, is recognized in psychology groups, and has proven to be the source of many reportedly mystifying and extraordinary occurrences. What do you think the image depicts?

Meanwhile, the group operating NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is inspecting data obtained from Spirit in recent days to study why the rover evidently rebooted its computer at least twice over the Apr 11-12 weekend. “While we don’t have an interpretation yet, we do understand that Spirit’s cells are charged, the solar arrays are manufacturing energy and temperatures are well within permissible scopes.

We have time to respond cautiously and explore this comprehensively,” said John Callas of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. “The rover is in a stable operations state called auto mode and taking care of itself. It may well stay in this well-balanced mode for some time if required while we determine the problem.”

Spirit reported with controllers Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but some of the transmission periods were inconsistent. One of the computer resets seemingly corresponded in regulating with operation of the rover’s high-gain dish transmitting aerial. The rover crew has the benefit of numerous transmission alternatives. Spirit can talk instantly with Earth by way of either the point able high-gain antenna or, at a reduced data rate, by way of a low-gain antenna which does not move. Moreover, connections can be transmitted by Mars orbiters, using the UHF transceiver, a unconnected radio system on the rover.

Meteor ALH84001 Life on Mars?

The record of the meteorite can be re-established from the geology and chemical composition of the rock itself. The rock undeniably began life on Mars and gas inclusions comprise gases indistinguishable to those on modern Mars in compound and isotopic structure, which are constructed in no other known planet other than Mars. The meteor is volcanic, and hardened throughout its 4.5 Billion year lifespan. The rock proceeded throughout at least 2 collisions on Mars, most likely neighbouring crashes, about 4 Million tears ago. The carbonates that were interpreted to be fossils developed subsequently, around 3.6 billion years, in grooves in the rock. The specimen was dislodged from the Martian surface around 16 million years ago probably by some form of massive Asteroid collision and continued to drift in space for the majority of interviening the period before descending to Earth approximately 12,500 years ago.

The verification for alien life within the meteor, as claimed by scientists in the late mid 1990′s is principally presented on two levels of evidence; PAH’s, and magnetite beads.

PAH’s

Scientists evidently conceived this was their optimal indication for alien life in the form of fossilised bacteria, however this has been totally dispelled given Science has in the intervening period determined that the presence of PAH which is effectively ‘Soot’, is not relevant within the argument supporting this theory. It has since been revealed that the denseness and compound dissimilarity of the PAHs is wholly coherent with a non biological beginning.

Magnetite

Probably, the best indication that these genuinely are fossils is the attendance of magnetite beads. These appear precisely like the magnetite beads in magnetotactic Micro-organisms in measurement and structure, moreover if created on Earth would be thought over to be noncontroversial “magnetofossils”. Magnetite can be manufactured synthetically, but to our current knowledge is presented naturally, only in a biological form. The bigger particles are known as single domain magnets, the likes of the inner magnetosome particles, and the slighter specimens are known as super magnetic, similar to the periplasmic crystallizations caused by a variety of the magnetotactic family.

Carbonate deposits

The noticeable suggestion for existence in this asteroid is what look to be fossil micro-organisms within the carbonates that were created there 3.6 billion years ago. They appear as rod formed Micro-organisms, and this is almost certainly what gave rise to the great curiosity in this claim. At present there are two serious apprehensions about these alleged Martian fossils; their dimensions, and the source of the carbonates. The fossils are tiny much shorter than conventional Micro-organisms at 20-100nm. The proportion allocation of the fossils is also troublesome given Earth bound microbic communities characteristically are moderately narrow in proportion, however the Martian fossil differ additionally by 100 times in capacity.

Fossilised Micro Organisms?

In spite of the fact that the PAH and carbonate proof has turn out to be less than persuasive, the magnetite information have stood up to scrutiny much better. More recently, successions of magnetite beads that appear exactly like those discovered in the cytol of magneto tactic specimens have been located within other samples from ALH84001 and in additional associated Martian rocks.

Nevertheless, all of the assertions about the magnetite beads in ALH84001 are challenged, and corresponding beads have been integrated by reproducing alternative plausible records of the meteorite in the research laboratory.
One characteristic of the ALH84001 space rock which is evident is the reality that it journeyed from Mars to Earth. Additional asteroids have completed the journey in far less time than ALH84001, and so it looks distinctly possible that if there is life on Mars, it may possibly have been carried here, conceivably living.