NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which sports a HiRise camera and has been documenting Mars since 2006, was tracking a course over the surface of the planet when it captured a now-viral photo of a formation that some say resembles a bear.
Indents in the rocky terrain set the stage: a clear circle, two eyes and a well-placed nose create an image that has captured the attention of millions. The martian mammal measures a mile and a half across.
The image, first captured in December, was shared on January 25th by the University of Arizona, which developed the camera that was used to capture it. According to a recent article about the formation on their website (uahirise.org), the pattern “might be due to the settling of a deposit over a buried impact crater.” They also theorize that “the nose is a volcanic or mud vent, and the deposit could be lava or mud flows?”
The MRO has captured many notorious photos in its 17 years, circling the red planet every 112 minutes and constantly discovering new things. From an apparent Star Trek “Starfleet” logo seen in June 2019 to a massive avalanche captured crashing down a cliff just a few months later in September, the invention continues to make new discoveries and take incredible images year after year.
The spacecraft’s cardinal purpose is to search for water on Mars, ultimately aiding NASA with the goal of human exploration and advancement. In the meantime, we’ll continue to reap the one-of-a-kind benefits resulting from such exploration.