London, August 5 (ANI): Scientists have solved the mystery of the rocky Mars "monolith" that resembled the black monolith from Stanley Kubrick's movie "2001: A Space Odyssey", and have determined that it is just a broken boulder.
When a high-resolution camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the monolith last July, speculation was rife that it appeared to show evidence there was once life on the Red Planet.
Now, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph, scientists at the University of Arizona, US, which captured the original image, insist it's just a broken boulder.
"It would be unwise to refer to it as a 'monolith' or 'structure' because that implies something artificial, like it was put there by someone for example," said University spokesman Yisrael Spinoza.
"In reality, it's more likely that this boulder has been created by breaking away from the bedrock to create a rectangular-shaped feature," he added.
According to scientist Alfred McEwen, "There are lots of rectangular boulders on Earth and Mars and other planets."
"Layering from rock deposition combined with tectonic fractures creates right-angle planes of weakness such that rectangular blocks tend to weather out and separate from the bedrock," he said. (ANI)
When a high-resolution camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the monolith last July, speculation was rife that it appeared to show evidence there was once life on the Red Planet.
Now, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph, scientists at the University of Arizona, US, which captured the original image, insist it's just a broken boulder.
"It would be unwise to refer to it as a 'monolith' or 'structure' because that implies something artificial, like it was put there by someone for example," said University spokesman Yisrael Spinoza.
"In reality, it's more likely that this boulder has been created by breaking away from the bedrock to create a rectangular-shaped feature," he added.
According to scientist Alfred McEwen, "There are lots of rectangular boulders on Earth and Mars and other planets."
"Layering from rock deposition combined with tectonic fractures creates right-angle planes of weakness such that rectangular blocks tend to weather out and separate from the bedrock," he said. (ANI)
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