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| Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo acquired on Sol 1923,
January 2, 2018. Using an onboard focusing process, the robot created
this product by merging two to eight images previously taken by the
MAHLI, located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS |
Have trace fossils been found on Mars?
In browsing the first new batch of 2018 Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photos snagged from Sols 1922 and 1923, researcher Barry DiGregorio speculates whether or not the Red Planet prowler has found trace fossils on Mars. DiGregorio is a research fellow for the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology in the United Kingdom and author of the nonfiction books “Mars: The Living Planet” and “The Microbes of Mars.”
“They look remarkably similar to Ordovician trace fossils I have studied and photographed here on Earth,” DiGregorio told Inside Outer Space. “If not trace fossils, what other geological explanations will NASA come up with?”
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| Ordovician trace fossils here on Earth. Copyright Barry E. DiGregorio – used with permission |