The 7 strangest things the Curiosity rover beamed back from Mars

1. Dust devils
Curiosity captured this amazing footage of dust devils whirling spectacularly on Mars as summer winds blew across the Red planet. Dust devils form as a result of sunshine warming the ground, causing the convective rising of air.


NASA

It’s five years to the day since NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover touched down on the surface of Mars – a staggering 248 million kilometers (154 million miles) from Earth.

Curiosity has many a space nerd hooked to its updates, providing huge quantities of images and data to trawl through, and inspiring endless speculation over the Red Planet’s features (and inhabitants).
To mark Curiosity’s five years roaming our nearest planetary neighbor, RT.com takes a look back at some of the strangest images it beamed back to Earth.


2. Bone-shaped rocks

© NASA / JPL-CALTECH / MSSS

In 2014, Curiosity set pulses racing with this incredible image reminiscent of a thigh bone. NASA was quick to dismiss such ideas, saying it likely shows rocks sculpted by wind or water erosion.

3. Star destroyer

© www.ufosightingsdaily.com

This Curiosity image of its rocky Martian surroundings prompted UFO enthusiasts to claim it as evidence of an alien spacecraft on Mars. Funny how alien craft are eerily similar to those thought up by movie writers here on Earth!

4. Monster on Mars?

© NASA

The rover’s mission is to study Mars and determine if it hosts – or ever hosted – life. This photo of dusty, jagged rocks looks pretty innocuous at first glance, but some eagle-eyed observers claim it clearly shows a ‘space crab’ lurking in the shadows. One Mars exploration fanpage on Facebook even suggested it bore an eerie resemblance to the creepy facehuggers from the Alien movies.

5. The Coffin

Still from Youtube video (WhatsUpInTheSky37) / YouTube

Aliens don’t bury their dead – apparently, they just leave them in coffins on Mars’ surface for all eternity. At least that’s what was suggested when this oblong shape was snapped by Curiosity in late
2014.

6. Itself

Looking good Curiosity. © @MarsCuriosity / Twitter

Curiosity channeled its own narcissistic celebrity with a series of images last year. The Red Planet selfie, looking somewhat like a holiday snap, comprises of 60 images taken while drilling into rock.

7. The breasted alien

NASA

A raw image taken by the curiosity rover got the attention of many UFO fans who claimed to have spotted an alien “woman with breasts and long hair” who is “attentively watching” from afar.

The Star Destroyer 
Spotted by UFO enthusiast Scott C. Waring this ‘Star Destroyer’, he claims is 2.5 to 3 metres in length so, “it probably only held a few passengers." Funny how alien craft are eerily similar to those

Alien woman with breasts

Martian women also have breasts apparently. At least that’s according to the good people at UFO Sightings Daily, though they are torn as to whether it is a living, breathing ‘woman’ or a statue

 

The Space Crab

“They will not tell the truth about MARS.” Exclaims the description on the Facebook group that discovered this gem. We don’t think they will either.

 

The Coffin

Aliens don’t bury their dead, apparently they just leave them in coffins on Mars's surface for all eternity. 

Martian dust devils

Curiosity Rover captured this amazing footage of dust devils whirling spectacularly on Mars as summer winds blew across the Red planet.

Itself

Curiosity channelled its own narcissistic celebrity with a series of images last year. The Red Planet selfie, thought to be the first of its kind, comprises of 60 images taken while drilling into rock