Is there life on Mars?
Despite the constant connection between Mars and aliens in science fiction, so far no concrete
evidence has been found of there being anything on the Red Planet in real life.
But when scientists captured an image of a strange noodle-like structure, they knew it
had to have been built by intelligent hands.
The question was, who made it?
This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering the extraordinary question; Is this space
spaghetti image proof of alien life on Mars?
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What does this picture show?
A strange tangled ball of something that was spotted on Mars.
A string-like object, and also widely described as a seeming piece of spaghetti.
But, in fact, it isn’t an isolated incident, and instead just the latest in a long line
of strange images captured by our off-Earth spacecraft.
For example, in late 2021, the Chinese lunar rover, Yutu 2, took a photo of what some said
looked like an alien hut perched on the moon’s horizon.
It was situated right next to a crater and indeed intrigued the researchers controlling
Yutu 2 enough that they approached the object…
buut it turned out to be just a rock that resembled a hut.
Just a few months later, and an unusual double impact crater was discovered on the moon,
as well, close to the object that had caused it.
The object, which was photographed, was an otherwise unidentified piece of metal about
the size of a school bus… that some were convinced was an alien ship.
Others, including leading scientists, reckon that it’s more likely a crashed rocket from
CNSA, the Chinese space agency, but its origins aren’t yet officially confirmed.
Elsewhere, and over the years, Mars has thrown up various other strange sightings on its
surface, ranging from supposed alien skeletons to proposed ET monuments...
with any anomaly found on Mars being of particular interest because it’s deemed that the planet
really could harbor life.
Or could have in its past.
Assuming most life finds moderate temperatures more survivable than extremes, Mars can be
considered the next most habitable planet in the solar system, besides Earth.
Nowadays, though, it’s generally held to be more likely that Mars might have held life
in its ancient history - rather than having life today.
Some astrobiologists consider Mars (as it was around four billion years ago) to have
been a better environment for fostering life than even Earth is now.
There’s evidence that Mars once had an abundance of water on its surface, and that water remained
there for hundreds of thousands of years.
And, while there was an oxygen shortage, some forms of life may have once evolved there
to need much less oxygen than we do.
This would then be quite similar conditions as to those seen when primordial Earth life
developed, here.
Ultimately, the fact that Mars was very likely habitable at any point in its past is important,
because we know that life is extremely resilient, having survived at least five mass extinctions
on our planet.
So, if Mars ever had life, it might still have life, so the theory goes.
And that’s exactly why images like that of the Martian space spaghetti are so eye-catching.
The bizarre image was actually captured by NASA’s Perseverance Rover, on July 12th
2022, with the “spaghetti” tag quickly sticking in reports worldwide, because the
object in shot clearly resembles a messy wad of pasta noodles.
But, when the exact same area was imaged again four days later, and the object had vanished,
cries of intelligent design began to explode across the internet.
It was there, and then it was not.
The apparent spaghetti could apparently move… and that demanded some more explanation.
NASA’s initial reaction to the image was to suggest that it was probably something
from Earth that had come loose from a piece of equipment or machinery on Mars.
We now have (and have had) so many rovers and landers engaging with the Martian surface,
launched by a variety of space agencies, that an errant bit of kit perhaps isn’t so unlikely.
But still, away from NASA, other proposals included that the spaghetti was actually a
Martian tumbleweed… or, again, a piece of tech (or just garbage) discarded by aliens.
Of the two, the tumbleweed might seem the least significant…
but it would actually be massive news if even this were the case.
Although they seem to be associated with deserted places on television, tumbleweeds are actually
important parts of an ecosystem, as they’re the remnants of plants that carry seeds elsewhere.
So, bizarrely, a tumbleweed on Mars would also be the first proof of life on Mars.
As, of course, would alien technology be, too.
From an early stage, then, the big question surrounding the space spaghetti was whether
or not it came from Earth.
Be it biological or artificial, it would appear too complex a thing for life not to have made
it… so, if not from Earth, then the Perseverance rover may have just made the single greatest
space discovery of all time.
A few weeks after the initial image was released, NASA finally revealed what the object depicted
is most likely to be.
In August 2022, NASA stated that they’d had their experts study the image in extreme
detail, with the conclusion being that it was actually a piece of dacron netting that
had been ripped free from a piece of, yes, Earth equipment.
It seems that it all dates back to February 2021, when the Perseverance rover was first
entering the Martian system.
Upon approach, it activated its Entry, Descent, and Landing hardware (or, EDL) and, during
the landing, part of that hardware was intentionally separated from the vehicle.
It was crash-landed a safe distance away, and the dacron netting would have been thrown
out among the debris.
So, unfortunately for alien hunters, NASA is pretty sure that this photo is a false
alarm, and that it simply captures an out of place, out of context, object of Earthly
origin.
What’s more, this netting isn’t even the first piece of debris that has been captured
from the EDL wreckage.
In April 2022, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, nicknamed Ginny, photographed the parachute
that had crash landed with the EDL equipment.
As of July, around half a dozen smaller pieces of wreckage - including bits of thermal blanket
and more netting - have also been spotted.
Even so, it’s worth noting that the most recent “space spaghetti” netting was snapped
more than a mile away from the original landing site of the EDL equipment.
So the winds of Mars have carried this particular piece of clutter a long way from home.
The netting is of course harmless, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still concerning.
For one, there’s a chance it could become tangled up in a piece of working equipment,
to unexpectedly derail Perseverance, or any other Mars mission.
But, also, the story throws the spotlight on the oft-forgotten issue of space contamination.
There are various rules and regulations in place seemingly to prevent Earth vehicles
from having a lasting impact on their destinations…
but, here, we can see that the Martian soil may have been contaminated by the netting.
And, one result of that is that scientists monitoring probes and experiments on Mars
have to consider whether the samples they collect really are purely Martian, or have
they already been contaminated by Earth?
In general, as far as strange sightings on other planets go, apparent spaghetti is perhaps
one of the most bizarre… but it’s not totally alone.
There have been various pictures released (or leaked) over the years that have been
tagged with alien claims.
Other particularly famous cases are the so-called “face on Mars” (which has since been shown
to be just a regular hill, just snapped at first in low resolution) and, in yet another
sighting from 2022, the seeming doorway on Mars.
We covered that sighting in a previous video, so be sure to check that out after this.
The intrigue around Mars isn’t going to disappear anytime soon.
For decades, it has been the planet of choice for alien theories.
And, indeed, perhaps that is what leads us to so quickly ponder ETs whenever something
turns up on Mars that doesn’t seem to fit.
If the earliest projections are met, then humans could finally walk on Mars, and even
attempt to live there, sometime in the 2030s or 2040s.
Maybe only then will we get to know the place with any real confidence.
And until then, images like this one will always set our imaginations whirring… even
if that’s why this particular piece of space spaghetti probably isn’t proof of alien
life.
What do you think?
Is there anything we missed?
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