Categories: Mars

Rover Sees a UFO?

Image credit: NASA/JPL
Observing the sky with the green filter of it panoramic camera, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit came across a surprise: a streak across the sky. The streak, seen in the middle of this mosaic of images taken by the navigation and panoramic cameras, was probably the brightest object in the sky at the time. Scientists theorize that the mystery line could be either a meteorite or one of seven out-of-commission spacecraft still orbiting Mars. Because the object appeared to move 4 degrees of an arc in 15 seconds it is probably not the Russian probes Mars 2, Mars 3, Mars 5, or Phobos 2; or the American probes Mariner 9 or Viking 1. That leaves Viking 2, which has a polar orbit that would fit with the north-south orientation of the streak. In addition, only Viking 1 and 2 were left in orbits that could produce motion as fast as that seen by Spirit. Said Mark Lemmon, a rover team member from Texas A&M University, Texas, “Is this the first image of a meteor on Mars, or an image of a spacecraft sent from another world during the dawn of our robotic space exploration program? We may never know, but we are still looking for clues.”

Original Source: NASA/JPL

Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain is the publisher of Universe Today. He's also the co-host of Astronomy Cast with Dr. Pamela Gay. Here's a link to my Mastodon account.

Recent Posts

Did Earth’s Multicellular Life Depend on Plate Tectonics?

How did complex life emerge and evolve on the Earth and what does this mean…

4 hours ago

Hubble Sees a Brand New Triple Star System

In a world that seems to be switching focus from the Hubble Space Telescope to…

12 hours ago

The Venerable Hubble Space Telescope Keeps Delivering

The world was much different in 1990 when NASA astronauts removed the Hubble Space Telescope…

13 hours ago

The BepiColombo Mission To Mercury is Losing Power

BepiColombo is a joint ESA/JAXA mission to Mercury. It was launched in 2018 on a…

16 hours ago

Astronauts Could Deploy Extra Arms to Stay Stable on the Moon

Walking along on the surface of the Moon, as aptly demonstrated by the Apollo astronauts,…

16 hours ago

Not All Black Holes are Ravenous Gluttons

Some Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) consume vast quantities of gas and dust, triggering brilliant light…

18 hours ago