An image taken by NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover on May 7, 2022 showed “a portal and a nearby wall that appears artificial.”
reality check
A popular May 2022 post on Reddit claimed that NASA’s Mars is Curiosity roaming Take a picture of a so-called “gateway” and a “nearby seemingly artificial wall” on the Red Planet that was as suspicious as it sounded.
It was because while something was being filmed in the grainy black and white version of take photo The image captured by the rover’s camera can be interpreted as resembling the shape of a door, as the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) told Snopes that it was actually “a very, very magnified shot of a small crack in a rock.”
“The team’s scientists emphasized how small it is [the crevice] IS: About 30 cm wide by 45 cm wide (11 by 17 in), a JPL spokesperson said via email. “They said there are linear fractures throughout this bump, and this is where many linear fractures occur. “
The picture was taken by the mast camera (mastic) on board the Curiosity rover, a system that uses a fixed focal length, multispectral imaging instrumentation to take “true color” images of the red planet and beyond. The image of “The Door” was taken on May 7, 2022, which is also Sol 3466 – Solar Day 3466 on Mars, or Mars day.
The NASA media relations team also referred us to a publicly available digital file mosaic Pictures from the rover, too. The piece was created by Neville Thompson, who is not affiliated with NASA, which showed the contents of the image in question within the wider Martian interior.
The small “door” (slit) can be seen nearly dead center, a little higher, and a little bit to the left.
“Look? You can zoom in with +/- on the right side of the screen. It’s very small and looks like…a crevice in the rock,” the speaker wrote.
While we can’t say for sure if Martians actually used small doors, NASA was certain that the “door” in this case was just a small rocky crevice. So, while Reddit showed an original image taken by NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover, the image didn’t show an artificial gate or wall. As such, we have categorized this claim as ‘false’.
Want more fact-checking about weird and funny Martian gossip? Check out these:
sources
Bell III, James F, et al. “MasCam Instruments for the Mars Science Laboratory: Preflight, Calibration, Verification, and In-flight Data Archiving.” Earth and Space Sciences, Vol. 4, no. 7, 2017, p. 396452. pubs.er.usgs.gov, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016EA000219.
“Does this image show a crater that was drilled on Mars?” Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/photo-hole-drilled-on-mars/. Accessed May 11, 2022.
Nada Ali Ahmed 90210. “New: 05-2022 A formation on Mars that looks like a portal and a nearby wall looks like artificial. Image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Mars rover.” R/Interestingasfuck, May 11, 2022, www.reddit .com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/umyqdy/new_20220507_a_formation_on_mars_which_appears_to/.
mars.nasa.gov. “Sol 3466: Mast Camera (Mastcam).” NASA’s Mars Exploration, https://mars.nasa.gov/raw_images/1064629. Accessed May 11, 2022.
MSL 3466 MR. http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/229311/. Accessed May 11, 2022.
