NASA discovers strange “dragon bones” on Mars

The Mars rover is very busy on the road. Otherwise, one would probably not continue to make unprecedentedly remarkable discoveries on Mars: now the smart vehicle, packed with technology, has managed to take pictures of a strange structure.

Weird — or rather weird: NASA’s Mars Rover Curiosity rover has sent back images that appear to have photographed the fossilized backbone of a primitive animal. The photos, taken on the alleged Martian day, Sol 3786, have sparked heated discussions online, according to Wales Online.

Fish bones, bones, or eroded rock?

In fact, the formations leave room for imagination. Sometimes users see herringbone fossils in it, and sometimes it’s dragon-like bones. Still others see it in a more tender way and think that these rocks were eroded by the Martian winds. Written by astrobiologist Natalie A. Caprol on Twitter: “In 20 years of Mars research, this was the most bizarre rock I’ve ever seen. Can’t wait to get a micrograph of it.”

Curiosity is a car-sized rover that has been exploring Gale Crater on Mars since August 2012 as part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. Mission objectives include studying the climate and geology of Mars, and preparing for human exploration. The storm is a crater and possibly a dry lake with a diameter of 154 km and an estimated age of 3.5 to 3.8 billion years.