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Mars has always been full of mysteries, but these strange shapes are unlike anything researchers expected to see on its surface. Their unusual geometry has sparked questions about whether they were formed naturally—or if something far more extraordinary is hiding in plain sight. And the closer scientists look, the harder these formations become to explain.
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00:09There's a weird structure on Mars, a square, a near-perfect square standing alone in the endless red desert.
00:17And it looks too perfect, too precise to be anything but artificial.
00:22Nature is chaotic, and it rarely makes things look so deliberate.
00:26So the Internet took one look at it and lost its mind, as the Internet tends to do.
00:32The image spread like a virus on social media, igniting every conspiracy theory you can think of.
00:38Some were convinced it was proof that intelligent life had once tread upon the Martian sands.
00:43Well, let's dive in and sort it out.
00:47The image is real, and it's really old. The thing, not the picture.
00:52NASA's Mars Orbiter camera snapped it in 2001, capturing a tiny slice of Martian terrain.
00:59And there sat the square.
01:01Now, is that evidence for intelligent life?
01:03Well, Mars is an empty world now, a rust-colored desert.
01:11But once, long ago, it may have been something else entirely.
01:16A planet filled with roaring rivers, vast oceans, and thick clouds rolling across the sky.
01:22Now, in a world like that, life, if it ever had a chance, could have taken root.
01:27And there's a possibility it did.
01:30Scientists think that life could have existed on Mars in a short period, from around 4.1 to 3 billion
01:37years ago.
01:37It could have started during the early era of Martian history, called the Noachian period,
01:43and lasted all the way to the late Hesperian period.
01:46Meanwhile, here on Earth, the first oceans were just forming.
01:50Life on our planet was just beginning, in the form of tiny bacteria in deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
01:56While Mars was already fully wet, on Earth, there were no plants or animals,
02:01just microscopic life trying to survive.
02:05So, Mars took the lead in the life game.
02:08It had a much thicker atmosphere, which could have trapped enough heat to keep water liquid.
02:13Valley networks, huge traces across the red landscape,
02:17show us the incredible story of rainfall, rivers, and lakes.
02:21Huge asteroids were still hitting Mars at the time,
02:24and they could have brought organic molecules with them.
02:27But, if that's true, what happened, and where did life go?
02:31A recent NASA study suggests that the answer is more complicated than we thought.
02:37Astronomers believe that something drastic happened to Mars, like boom!
02:42And its cozy climate was gone, its atmosphere thin.
02:46Without a strong magnetic field like Earth's to protect it,
02:50solar radiation stripped away the air, leaving Mars cold and dry.
02:54The ocean simply evaporated.
02:57Some of the water escaped into space,
02:59while the rest froze underground, or became locked in polar ice caps.
03:04Today, all that remains is a ghostly memory.
03:08Dry channels and salty mineral deposits.
03:13But, it looks like the transition wasn't sudden at all.
03:17It was slow and gradual.
03:19The planet was changing from wet and warm,
03:21to cold and dry, over millions of years.
03:24In fact, Mars kept its ocean even after the temperatures dropped to freezing.
03:28Some parts of Mars, especially the northern lowlands,
03:32might have remained wet for many, many centuries.
03:35Shouldn't the water freeze when it gets below 32 degrees Fahrenheit?
03:39Well, yeah.
03:40But, there are many reasons why this miracle happened,
03:43like Mars' thick atmosphere and warm water traveling through currents.
03:47And, during that time we mentioned before,
03:50from Noachian to the late Hesperian,
03:52life could have found a way.
03:59Microbes on Earth thrive in some of the harshest places.
04:02Beneath Antarctic ice, in deep sea vents,
04:04in toxic volcanic lakes.
04:06Hey, life doesn't care.
04:08So, these times in Martian history would be amazing for it.
04:11But, don't be mistaken,
04:13Mars was never a paradise.
04:15Even during its cozy times,
04:17it wasn't as lush and green as we might imagine.
04:21In its early days, Mars was something more extreme,
04:24something closer to the young Earth.
04:25During the Noachian period, it was warm, yet wet.
04:29Then, the climate shifted into the Hesperian period.
04:33Oceans were stretching across the northern lowlands.
04:36Temperatures dropped, and snow piled high,
04:38forming massive glaciers in the south,
04:40transforming the planet into an icy world.
04:44Finding microscopic life at that time is possible.
04:47But, an intelligent civilization?
04:49Eh, that's less likely.
04:53The square that went viral isn't evidence for intelligent life yet.
04:57And, here's why.
04:59First things first.
05:00People freak out because nature doesn't make straight lines.
05:03But, that's not really true.
05:05Actually, nature does it all the time.
05:08For example, here on Earth,
05:10we have the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland,
05:13a beautiful field of hexagonal basalt columns.
05:16These are completely natural.
05:18They're formed by volcanic activity.
05:20There's also the Devil's Tower in Wyoming.
05:23Hey, remember it from the Close Encounters movie in the 80s?
05:26That's a symmetrical rock formation,
05:28and it was created by erosion.
05:30However, if we looked at these things from space,
05:33they'd look artificial.
05:35So, what is the square?
05:37How about a fracture pattern in the rock
05:40or some terrain that's broken apart
05:42along straight lines due to stress?
05:44This happens on Earth all the time
05:46when rock expands and contracts over time.
05:49And on Mars,
05:50the surface is just constantly battered
05:52by meteors, winds, and extreme temperature shifts.
05:56No wonder rock would get stressed.
05:59What happens here is another case of pareidolia.
06:02It's our brain's favorite thing
06:04to spot patterns in something random.
06:06Hey, we evolved like this.
06:08So, sometimes, we might look at natural objects
06:11and see insane stuff.
06:13Faces on trees, animals in clouds, shapes, and so on.
06:17Besides, NASA has been photographing Mars for decades.
06:21We have high-resolution images of craters,
06:24mountains, valleys, riverbeds,
06:26hey, everything.
06:27Wouldn't an ancient civilization leave us,
06:30well, something better than some square-like rock?
06:32Even though things erode over time,
06:35we'd find more signs.
06:37Roads, foundations, artifacts, ruins,
06:39or at least something.
06:42Though, to be fair, we do see something.
06:44The square wouldn't be the first time
06:46Mars has played tricks on us.
06:48Over the years, we've spotted everything,
06:50from tunnels to carved faces,
06:52even Bigfoot.
06:54Or this doorway, for example,
06:56a perfectly cut rectangular opening.
06:59That's what people saw
07:00when NASA's Curiosity rover sent back an image
07:03of the East Cliffs on Mount Sharp.
07:05It's almost like an ancient passage
07:08leading deep into the surface.
07:09You just need to go in
07:11and find some fantastic underground base.
07:15Well, NASA decided to take a closer look at it.
07:18It turns out, it's just 12 inches tall
07:21and 16 inches wide,
07:22the size of a dog door.
07:24That's because what we're looking at
07:26isn't a doorway,
07:27but an open fracture,
07:28a break in the rock
07:30that happens naturally over time.
07:32These kinds of cracks are extremely common,
07:34both on Earth and on Mars.
07:36They form when bedrock is stressed,
07:39expands, contracts,
07:40or gets eroded by wind and time.
07:43If you walk through a desert here on Earth,
07:45you'd see plenty of similar shapes.
07:47Canyons, cliffs, and even boulders
07:49have fractures that,
07:51from the right angle,
07:52might look like doorways.
07:53They're just not getting photographed by NASA.
07:57Also, the straightness of lines
07:59turns out to be just a trick of perspective.
08:01If you zoom out,
08:03you'll see that it's just one small break
08:05in a much bigger rock formation.
08:08Or the infamous Cydonia face.
08:10The photo was taken back in 1976
08:13by NASA's Viking 1 orbiter
08:15when it was scanning Mars.
08:17In the region known as Cydonia,
08:19it captured what looked like
08:21a massive humanoid face,
08:23a rocky formation about 1.2 miles long.
08:26And this one face inspired books,
08:29documentaries, movies, and podcasts.
08:33But when NASA's Viking orbiters
08:36first took pictures of Cydonia,
08:38the cameras weren't super advanced.
08:40The image of the face had a low resolution
08:42and made the details fuzzy.
08:44NASA's later missions
08:46had far better cameras.
08:47And when Mars Global Surveyor
08:49revisited Cydonia in 2001,
08:52the truth was undeniable.
08:54The face was just a hill,
08:56a lumpy rock formation
08:57with ridges and depressions
08:59carved by wind and erosion.
09:01And in 2006,
09:02during another mission,
09:04a colored image
09:05with insanely high detail was made.
09:07No traces of face
09:09left there whatsoever.
09:10That's another pareidolia trick for you.
09:13Now, Mars has plenty of secrets
09:15left to uncover.
09:16But they will be related
09:17to its fascinating history,
09:19not some secret ancient civilization.
09:21The conclusion is,
09:23don't trust everything you see online.
09:25Sometimes, a mysterious rock
09:27is just a rock.
09:35NASA's Mars helicopter
09:37captured images
09:38that immediately raised questions.
09:41During several flights
09:42above the Martian surface,
09:44the drone recorded strange holes,
09:46fractured terrain,
09:48and unusual rock formations
09:50that looked completely different
09:52from the surrounding landscape.
09:54Some of the openings
09:55appeared almost tunnel-like.
09:58Others looked like
09:59collapsed sections of ground,
10:01as if parts of the surface
10:02had caved in.
10:04And in a few images,
10:05scientists noticed patterns
10:07in the terrain
10:08that looked surprisingly similar
10:10to erosion features
10:11created by water on Earth.
10:14Naturally,
10:15the Internet jumped
10:16to extreme conclusions.
10:18Some people even speculated
10:20that the holes
10:21could be signs
10:21of underground life
10:23or hidden caves
10:24beneath the surface of Mars.
10:26The reality is probably
10:28less dramatic.
10:29But the discoveries
10:30are still important,
10:32because they may reveal
10:33something scientists
10:34have been trying to confirm
10:36for decades.
10:37Mars may still contain
10:39significant amounts
10:40of water underground.
10:42NASA's helicopter,
10:44Ingenuity,
10:45was originally designed
10:46as a simple technology experiment.
10:49Engineers only expected it
10:51to complete a handful
10:52of short flights
10:53after arriving on Mars
10:54with the Perseverance rover
10:56in 2021.
10:57Instead,
10:59the small drone
11:00survived far longer
11:01than expected
11:02and gave scientists
11:03something they had never
11:05truly had before
11:06on Mars.
11:07Detailed low-altitude
11:09aerial exploration.
11:11That changed everything.
11:13From orbit,
11:14Mars can look flat
11:15and uniform.
11:16But flying just a few meters
11:18above the ground
11:19revealed an entirely
11:21different picture.
11:22The helicopter
11:23captured high-resolution
11:25views of cliffs,
11:26fractured rock fields,
11:28steep crater edges,
11:29and strange depressions
11:31scattered across
11:32the landscape.
11:33Some of the most
11:34interesting features
11:35were spotted inside
11:36and around Jezero Crater,
11:38an ancient basin
11:39scientists believe
11:41once contained
11:42a large lake
11:42billions of years ago.
11:44Several images
11:46showed holes
11:47and collapsed pits
11:48in the surface
11:49that resembled
11:50geological features
11:51known as lava tubes
11:52or subsurface
11:54collapse chambers.
11:56On Earth,
11:56these structures form
11:58when underground lava tunnels
12:00empty out
12:01and the surface above them
12:02collapses.
12:04Scientists are especially
12:06interested in these formations
12:07because underground caves
12:09could protect water ice
12:11from evaporation
12:12and radiation.
12:13That matters
12:14because modern Mars
12:16is extremely hostile.
12:18Surface temperatures
12:19can fall below
12:20100 degrees Celsius
12:22and the atmosphere
12:23is so thin
12:24that liquid water
12:26cannot remain stable
12:27for long on the surface.
12:29But underground
12:30is a different story.
12:32Radar observations
12:33from orbit
12:34already suggest
12:35that parts of Mars
12:37may still contain
12:38buried ice deposits
12:39and possibly even
12:41underground reservoirs
12:42of salty liquid water.
12:44Now,
12:45the drone imagery
12:46may be helping
12:47scientists identify
12:49locations
12:49where underground structures
12:51are exposed
12:52near the surface.
12:53Some rock formations
12:55photographed by ingenuity
12:56also show layering patterns
12:58that strongly resemble
13:00sedimentary rocks
13:01formed in water-rich
13:03environments on Earth.
13:04These layers appear
13:06stacked in thin
13:07horizontal sequences,
13:08suggesting that water
13:10may have carried
13:10and deposited material
13:12over long periods of time.
13:14In several locations,
13:16scientists observed
13:17smooth, rounded rocks
13:19mixed among sharper,
13:20fractured terrain.
13:22On Earth,
13:23rocks often become
13:24rounded after being
13:25transported by flowing water
13:27for long distances.
13:28That does not prove
13:29Mars once had
13:30rivers everywhere,
13:31but it adds
13:33to growing evidence
13:33that large amounts
13:34of water shaped
13:35parts of the planet
13:36billions of years ago.
13:38The drone also captured
13:40images of fractured
13:41cliff sections
13:42and broken terrain
13:43that appear to have
13:45partially collapsed.
13:46In some cases,
13:48it almost looks as if
13:49pieces of the Martian surface
13:50broke away entirely.
13:52Researchers believe
13:54many of these fractures
13:55were likely caused
13:56by ancient volcanic activity,
13:58impacts,
13:59or the slow expansion
14:00and contraction
14:01of underground ice.
14:03As ice forms
14:04and melts
14:05beneath the surface
14:06over millions of years,
14:07the ground above it
14:09can weaken
14:09and collapse.
14:11This creates pits,
14:13cracks,
14:13and hollow spaces
14:14that are now visible
14:16from the air.
14:17Some scientists
14:18think these underground
14:20cavities could become
14:21extremely important
14:22for future human missions.
14:24Lava tubes
14:25and subsurface caves
14:27may provide
14:28natural protection
14:29from radiation,
14:30dust storms,
14:32and extreme
14:32temperature swings.
14:34In other words,
14:35the same strange holes
14:37that sparked speculation
14:38online
14:39could eventually become
14:40shelters for astronauts.
14:42At the same time,
14:44these discoveries
14:45are helping scientists
14:46better understand
14:47how active Mars once was.
14:49Today,
14:50the planet looks frozen
14:52and lifeless.
14:53But billions of years ago,
14:55Mars may have had rivers,
14:57lakes,
14:58flooding events,
15:00volcanic eruptions,
15:01and possibly long-term
15:03habitable environments.
15:05The evidence
15:06for that ancient activity
15:07is still scattered
15:08across the surface.
15:10And because Ingenuity
15:12was able to explore Mars
15:13from low altitude,
15:15it revealed details
15:16that orbiters
15:17and rovers often miss.
15:19The helicopter
15:20was never supposed
15:21to make major discoveries.
15:23It was built simply
15:25to test whether
15:25powered flight
15:26was possible
15:27in an atmosphere
15:28about 100 times
15:30thinner than Earth's.
15:31Instead,
15:32it ended up
15:33giving scientists
15:34one of the clearest
15:35close-range views
15:36of the Martian surface
15:37ever captured.
15:39And some of the things
15:40it saw
15:40are making researchers
15:42rethink
15:42how much of Mars
15:44may still be hiding
15:45underground.
15:48There's a huge hole
15:49on Mars,
15:50more than 300 feet wide,
15:52and it seems that
15:53NASA agrees
15:54that it could be
15:54an opening
15:55into an underground world.
15:57Could a mysterious
15:58space civilization
15:59be hiding in there?
16:00Well,
16:01experts from NASA
16:02think that the hole
16:03might lead
16:04to a lower layer
16:05under the surface
16:06of the red planet.
16:07You can think of it
16:08like a trap door
16:09that opens into a basement.
16:11Scientists care a lot
16:12about holes like this
16:13because they might connect
16:14to big underground caves.
16:16These caves
16:17would be hidden
16:18from the surface
16:18and could be safer places
16:20for life to exist.
16:22You see,
16:23Mars' surface
16:24is a rough place.
16:25It's freezing cold,
16:27extremely dry,
16:28and constantly
16:29hit by radiation.
16:31Meanwhile,
16:32underground spaces
16:32are different.
16:33They're like
16:34natural shelters,
16:35protecting anything inside.
16:37That's what makes
16:38them some of the best
16:39places to look
16:40for signs of life
16:41on Mars.
16:43Interestingly,
16:44NASA is usually
16:45very careful
16:46when talking about
16:47life on other planets.
16:48Until now,
16:49most researchers
16:50have been focusing
16:51on tiny life forms
16:52like microbes
16:53which might be hiding
16:54in frozen oceans
16:55on nearby planets
16:57and moons.
16:58But now,
16:59scientists really think
17:00this hole could lead
17:01to huge underground caves.
17:03If that's true,
17:05besides looking
17:06for signs of life,
17:07this spot could become
17:09a target
17:09for future astronauts,
17:11since the caves
17:12could turn into
17:13great shelters
17:13and even a Martian base.
17:16The photo with the hole
17:18isn't new.
17:19It was taken in 2017
17:20by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
17:23In the image,
17:24we can see many holes
17:25scattered across the ground.
17:27The area basically
17:28looks like Swiss cheese.
17:30Most of the holes
17:31have dark, dusty ground
17:32under a thin layer
17:33of light-colored
17:34frozen carbon dioxide,
17:36aka dry ice.
17:38But one hole
17:39stands out from the rest.
17:40It's perfectly round,
17:42sits in the upper part
17:43of the image,
17:43and is about 328 feet wide.
17:47That's a massive opening.
17:49The hole also has
17:50a perfectly round crater
17:51around it.
17:52It's like something
17:53punched through the surface
17:54and left a ring behind.
17:56Scientists think
17:57it may have been caused
17:58by a meteor impact.
18:00Scientists believe
18:01Mars was much more
18:02like Earth
18:03billions of years ago,
18:04with better conditions
18:05for life.
18:06But today,
18:07the best chance
18:08of finding signs of life
18:09is underground.
18:10Mars no longer
18:11has a strong magnetic field
18:13or a thick atmosphere,
18:14so its surface
18:15is constantly blasted
18:16by harmful radiation
18:17from space.
18:19Underground caves
18:20or lava tubes
18:21act like natural bunkers,
18:23shielding anything inside
18:24from that radiation.
18:26This makes them
18:26the most promising places
18:28to search for life.
18:29Because of that protection,
18:30astronauts might one day
18:32find signs of past life there,
18:34or even fossils.
18:36To hunt for these hidden spaces,
18:38NASA brought in experts
18:40on underground structures
18:41and seismic activity
18:42from the U.S. Geological Survey.
18:44In 2019,
18:45they released a detailed map
18:47showing more than
18:481,000 possible cave entrances
18:50scattered all over Mars.
18:53There's a catch, though.
18:54All of this data
18:55comes from spacecraft
18:56flying about 250 miles
18:59above the Martian surface.
19:00From that height,
19:02scientists can spot holes,
19:03but they can't see
19:04how deep they go
19:06or what's underneath.
19:08Some may be true caves,
19:09while others
19:10could just be shallow dense
19:12in the rock.
19:13Other missions,
19:14including the European
19:15Space Agency's Mars Express,
19:17have also found signs
19:18of ancient lava tubes
19:20beneath Mars'
19:21long-extinct volcanoes.
19:23But what makes
19:24this newly released image
19:25stand out
19:25is that it clearly shows
19:27at least one hole
19:28that appears to lead
19:29into an unknown
19:30underground layer.
19:31And if current plans
19:33come true,
19:34the earliest human astronauts
19:35could see this massive opening
19:37with their own eyes
19:38in the 2030s.
19:40And maybe they'll also
19:41be able to examine
19:42another Martian mystery.
19:44For more than 50 years,
19:46scientists have been puzzled
19:47by about 2 million dark streaks
19:49spread across the surface of Mars.
19:52These black marks
19:53look like long stains
19:54or shadows running downhill.
19:56It's almost like
19:57someone spilled ink
19:58on the planet.
19:59They were first spotted
20:01in the 1970s,
20:02and for decades,
20:03no one could explain
20:04what caused them.
20:06These marks
20:07are called slope streaks.
20:09They appear on steep slopes,
20:11crater walls,
20:11and ridges
20:12all over Mars.
20:13From far away,
20:14they look flat and dark.
20:16At first,
20:17scientists thought
20:18the streaks
20:18were caused
20:19by melting ice.
20:20This could create
20:21muddy landslides
20:22similar to wet dirt
20:23sliding down a hill
20:25on Earth.
20:26Even today,
20:27researchers still believe
20:28the streaks
20:28come from landslides,
20:30but not the kind
20:31involving water.
20:32New research
20:33using data
20:34from NASA's
20:35Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
20:36shows that most
20:37of these streaks
20:38are caused
20:39by dry landslides.
20:40Instead of mud
20:41or water,
20:42it's loose dust
20:43suddenly slipping downhill,
20:45more like dry sand
20:46pouring off a pile
20:47when it gets disturbed.
20:49This explains
20:50how the streaks
20:51can form
20:51in Mars'
20:52cold,
20:52dry environment.
20:53One famous example
20:55is on Apollinaris Mons.
20:57It's an extinct volcano
20:58south of Mars' equator.
21:00On one side of a ridge,
21:02hundreds of streaks
21:03run side by side,
21:04which makes the surface
21:05look like a barcode.
21:07These streaks
21:08appeared sometime
21:09between 2013
21:10and 2017.
21:12Scientists figured out
21:13a bit later
21:14that a nearby
21:15meteoroid impact
21:16could have triggered them.
21:17The impact
21:18didn't hit the ridge
21:19directly,
21:19but the shock
21:20shook the ground
21:21and it was enough
21:22to send dust
21:23downhill.
21:24Now,
21:25because some streaks
21:26appeared after impacts,
21:27many scientists
21:28thought that
21:28meteoroids
21:29or Mars quakes
21:30were responsible
21:31for creating
21:32most slope streaks.
21:33But a new study
21:35shows that this idea
21:36is kinda wrong.
21:37The study in question
21:39looked at about
21:392.1 million
21:40slope streaks.
21:41They were photographed
21:42by NASA's
21:43Mars Reconnaissance
21:44Orbiter
21:45over a long period,
21:46from 2006
21:47to 2024.
21:49Scientists have estimated
21:50that Mars
21:51has around
21:511.6 million
21:53slope streaks
21:53in total.
21:54But some streaks
21:55have been counted
21:56more than once
21:57because they appear
21:58in different image sets.
22:00So,
22:01after analyzing
22:02all this data,
22:03researchers have concluded
22:04that almost all new streaks
22:05form because of wind
22:07and dust,
22:07not impacts
22:08or quakes.
22:10Look,
22:10seasons change on Mars
22:11and winds
22:12slowly move dust
22:13and sand.
22:14When that loose material
22:15suddenly slips downhill,
22:17it leaves behind
22:17a dark streak.
22:19It's like brushing
22:20dust off a surface
22:21and revealing
22:21a darker layer underneath.
22:24Meteoroid impacts
22:25and Marsquakes
22:26do create some streaks too,
22:28but only in
22:29very specific spots.
22:31Overall,
22:32they play a very small role.
22:33Less than 0.1%
22:34of new slope streaks
22:36are caused by impacts
22:37and Marsquakes.
22:40The analysis
22:41has also shown
22:42that slope streaks
22:43are not spread evenly
22:44across Mars.
22:45They're grouped
22:46into five main regions.
22:50In each of these areas,
22:52new streaks
22:52usually form
22:53during times of the year
22:54when winds are strongest.
22:56There's a key tipping point
22:58called the dust
22:59movement threshold.
23:00Once winds get strong enough
23:02to lift and move dust,
23:03the loose material
23:04on slopes
23:05becomes unstable.
23:07When that happens,
23:09dust can suddenly
23:09slide downhill,
23:11creating a dark streak.
23:12This is similar
23:14to how strong winds
23:14on Mars can kick up dust
23:16and form spinning columns
23:17called dust devils.
23:19They're like small tornadoes
23:21moving across
23:21the planet's flat plains.
23:23One reason this mystery
23:25took so long to solve
23:26is that these streaks
23:27form when scientists
23:28can't easily see them happen.
23:30The conditions
23:32that create new streaks
23:33usually occur
23:34around sunrise and sunset.
23:36And because this phenomenon
23:37happens in low light,
23:39no spacecraft
23:40has directly watched
23:41a streak form
23:42in real time.
23:44The study also calculated
23:45how often new streaks appear.
23:47On average,
23:48about 0.5 new streaks
23:50form each year
23:51for every existing streak.
23:52And since Mars
23:53has around 1.6 million
23:55slope streaks,
23:56that's roughly 80,000
23:58new streaks forming
23:59every year.
24:00Most streaks
24:01seem to stick around
24:02for several decades
24:03before they slowly fade away.
24:05However,
24:06scientists don't yet
24:07have enough long-term data
24:08to be completely sure.
24:09Another cool discovery,
24:11even though slope streaks
24:13cover less than 0.1%
24:15of Mars' surface,
24:16they may be one
24:17of the biggest sources
24:18of dust
24:18in the Martian atmosphere.
24:20In other words,
24:22these small-looking features
24:23may play a much larger role
24:24than we expected.
24:26That's why understanding
24:27how slope streaks
24:28move dust around Mars
24:29is important.
24:30Mars' dust affects weather,
24:32visibility,
24:33and even how much sunlight
24:34reaches the ground.
24:35That matters a lot
24:37for future human colonies,
24:38which would need
24:39stable conditions
24:40to survive
24:41and operate safely.
24:47Hey,
24:48you know what would be
24:49pretty cool?
24:50Having a tiny helicopter
24:51on Mars
24:52that can buzz around
24:53and scan the environment
24:54from above,
24:56taking pictures
24:57and looking for hidden
24:58extraterrestrial life
24:59on its own.
25:00At some point,
25:02somebody at NASA
25:02said something like this
25:04behind closed doors.
25:05Then they went
25:07and actually did it.
25:09Say hello
25:09to GINI,
25:11one of the most significant
25:12scientific achievements
25:13since we first started
25:14exploring space.
25:18Back in 2020,
25:19NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
25:21or JPL,
25:23packed a tiny side project
25:25onto the Mars mission.
25:26It was called Ingenuity,
25:28a flying experiment
25:29meant to test
25:30if powered flight
25:31was even possible
25:32on another planet.
25:33Just proof of concept,
25:35a test demo.
25:36The real mission
25:37was to explore
25:38the surface of Mars
25:39with the rover
25:40called Perseverance.
25:43In 2021,
25:44this six-wheeled
25:45robotic scientist
25:46about the size
25:47of a small SUV
25:48landed on Mars
25:49in a place called
25:50Jezero Crater.
25:52Scientists believe
25:53there was once
25:54a lake here
25:55about 3.5 billion years ago.
25:57That's important
25:59because where there's
26:00ancient water,
26:01there might have been
26:02ancient extraterrestrial life.
26:05Perseverance is basically
26:06a science lab on wheels.
26:08It can study rocks,
26:10drill into the surface,
26:11and stash samples
26:12in little sealed tubes
26:14for later.
26:15These samples
26:15are part of a long-term plan.
26:18NASA and ESSA
26:19plan to bring them
26:20back to Earth
26:21in 2033
26:22for more study.
26:24This could finally answer,
26:26has life ever existed
26:28outside Earth?
26:28Maybe samples
26:30won't give
26:31the definitive answer,
26:32but it's our best shot.
26:34Ugh,
26:35suddenly 2033
26:36seems very far away.
26:38The rover has
26:39other instruments
26:40and testing tools
26:41that could greatly benefit
26:42future exploration of Mars,
26:44but the hero
26:45of this story
26:46is Ginny.
26:47They got the idea
26:48for this little chopper
26:49from drones
26:50here on Earth
26:51and thought it could
26:52fly around
26:52and scout for Perseverance.
26:54However,
26:55actually making it work
26:56on Mars
26:57sounds almost impossible.
27:00The first problem
27:01was the atmosphere.
27:02Mars has approximately
27:04only 1%
27:05of Earth's air pressure,
27:06which means
27:07there's barely anything
27:08to push against.
27:09On Earth,
27:11chopper blades bite
27:12into thick air
27:13to generate lift.
27:14Since there's basically
27:15no air on Mars,
27:17it's sort of like
27:18trying to swim in fog
27:19instead of water.
27:20Then there's gravity.
27:22Sure,
27:22it's only about 38%
27:24of Earth's,
27:25which helps a bit,
27:26but not nearly enough
27:27to offset the lack of air.
27:29To fly at all,
27:31the device would have
27:31to be feather light
27:32with huge blades
27:34spinning like crazy
27:35just to grab on
27:36to the thin air.
27:38Oh,
27:38and there's also the cold.
27:40At night,
27:41temperatures plunge
27:42to negative 130 degrees Fahrenheit,
27:44which is approximately
27:46the same
27:46as the coldest night
27:47ever recorded
27:48in Antarctica.
27:49That's enough
27:50to damage most electronics,
27:52and batteries
27:53hate the cold.
27:54So Ginny charged up
27:56during the day
27:56with a tiny solar panel,
27:58then used that power
27:59to keep warm
28:00through the freezing
28:01Martian night.
28:02Every day,
28:03scientists had to hope
28:04that their drone
28:05worth $80 million
28:07wouldn't land
28:08under a hill
28:09in a shadow,
28:10especially since
28:11it couldn't be
28:12controlled manually.
28:14Mars is so far away
28:16that signals can take
28:17up to 20 minutes
28:18to get there.
28:19Imagine playing
28:21a video game
28:21where your character
28:22has that kind of delay
28:23after you press a button.
28:25Ginny had to be
28:26fully autonomous.
28:28All these
28:29technological
28:29technicalities,
28:30and yet Ginny
28:31did not simply fly.
28:33What was first planned
28:34as a 30-day test trial
28:36with five flights
28:37ended up being
28:38a full-fledged
28:39support mission
28:39that lasted
28:40three years.
28:43So,
28:44how did engineers
28:45pull it off?
28:45First,
28:47they had to make
28:47Ginny as light
28:48as physically possible,
28:50only four pounds.
28:52That's lighter
28:53than my house cat,
28:54but somehow,
28:55it still carried
28:56two cameras,
28:57a battery,
28:58a flight computer,
28:59a radio antenna,
29:00and even a heater.
29:02Everything had to be
29:03trimmed down
29:04or miniaturized.
29:05Then came the blades,
29:07Ginny's most
29:08important feature.
29:09On Earth,
29:10a small helicopter
29:11spins its blades
29:12between 400
29:13and 500 RPM.
29:15But we explained
29:16why that wouldn't
29:17work on Mars.
29:18So,
29:19Ginny's two rotor blades
29:20had to spin
29:21five times faster,
29:22about 2,500
29:24revolutions per minute.
29:26Each blade
29:27was about
29:27two feet long,
29:29made from carbon fiber,
29:30light as a feather,
29:32but tough as nails.
29:33And instead of
29:34sitting side by side
29:35like on a drone,
29:36those blades
29:37were stacked
29:38on top of each other,
29:39spinning in
29:39opposite directions.
29:41That cancels out
29:42the twisting force
29:43you'd normally get
29:44from a single
29:45spinning blade.
29:46You know how
29:47helicopters have
29:48that tiny tail rotor
29:49in the back?
29:50They need that
29:51because when their
29:52main rotor on top
29:53spins to lift
29:54the chopper up,
29:55it also creates
29:56a twisting force
29:57called torque.
29:58That makes the
29:59entire vehicle
30:00want to spin
30:01in the opposite direction.
30:03Without some way
30:04to fight that,
30:05you'd end up doing
30:06donuts in the sky.
30:07However,
30:08Ginny couldn't have
30:09a tail rotor
30:10because it would
30:11add too much weight,
30:12take more power,
30:13and make things
30:14even more complicated.
30:16So,
30:17engineers created
30:18a workaround
30:18with two large blades
30:20stacked on top
30:21of each other,
30:21spinning in
30:22opposite directions,
30:23which prevented
30:24the drone
30:25from spinning
30:26out of control.
30:27As for controlling it,
30:29Ginny didn't have
30:30a full-blown AI,
30:31but it wasn't
30:32remote-controlled either.
30:34NASA uploaded
30:35flight plans from Earth,
30:36but once the drone
30:37took off,
30:38it flew itself
30:39using onboard sensors
30:40and code.
30:42Basically,
30:43like a really smart
30:44autopilot.
30:45To stay on course,
30:47it watched the ground
30:48with a downward-facing camera,
30:50kind of like tracking
30:51its own shadow
30:52as a guide.
30:53And finally,
30:54the result was seen
30:55in April 2021,
30:57when Ginny lifted off
30:58the Martian ground
30:59and hovered in place
31:00for just 39 seconds.
31:03It rose about 10 feet
31:05into the air,
31:06hovered a bit,
31:07spun around a little,
31:08and landed safely
31:09back on the red dirt.
31:10It was short
31:11and simple.
31:12One small step
31:13for a drone,
31:14but a huge one
31:15for humanity.
31:17For the next three years,
31:19the team responsible
31:20was testing the limits,
31:21flying Ginny
31:22further and further.
31:24From above,
31:25Ginny saw more
31:26than the rover could.
31:27The drone helped
31:28map the terrain,
31:29spotted risks
31:30like loose sand
31:31and sharp rocks,
31:32and even found
31:33shortcuts for Perseverance.
31:35It even saved the rover,
31:37so to speak,
31:38when its photos
31:39helped the team
31:40reroute the vehicle
31:41around a tricky dune.
31:43Ginny also made snapshots
31:45of interesting layered rocks,
31:47exactly the kind you'd need
31:48when you're searching
31:49for ancient life.
31:51Basically,
31:52once the drone spotted
31:53something weird
31:54or promising from above,
31:56Perseverance would roll over
31:57to check it out.
31:58And it worked way better
32:00than anyone expected.
32:02However,
32:03in January 2024,
32:05Ginny went missing.
32:06The drone was supposed
32:07to do a short hop,
32:09go up,
32:10hover,
32:10land,
32:11easy stuff.
32:12But after takeoff,
32:14NASA lost contact.
32:16For a while,
32:17no one knew
32:17what had happened,
32:18just silence.
32:20A few days later,
32:21NASA finally got
32:22a weak signal
32:23and pulled the flight data.
32:25Turns out,
32:26Ginny flew over
32:27of featureless terrain.
32:29See,
32:29it used its downward-facing camera
32:31to track movement,
32:32kind of like
32:33an optical mouse.
32:35No texture below
32:36meant nothing
32:37to lock onto.
32:38Mid-flight,
32:39the drone got disoriented,
32:41tilted,
32:41and during landing,
32:43one of its blades
32:44clipped the ground.
32:45NASA confirmed it.
32:47The rotor was damaged.
32:49It will never fly again.
32:50However,
32:51this is not a sad story.
32:56Even with broken wings,
32:58the robot is still useful.
33:00After Flight 72,
33:02NASA gave Ginny
33:03new software
33:04and a new job,
33:05staying powered on
33:07and quietly collecting
33:08daily data,
33:09possibly for the next 20 years.
33:12In a way,
33:13Ginny has gone from scout
33:14to ground-based observer.
33:17So,
33:18what happens next?
33:19Well,
33:20we wait for 2030
33:21while we make
33:22more flying robots.
33:23The biggest one
33:24on the horizon
33:25is Dragonfly,
33:26a car-sized rotorcraft
33:28scheduled to launch
33:29in 2028
33:30and land on Titan,
33:32one of Saturn's moons.
33:34Titan has a thick atmosphere
33:36and low gravity,
33:37a dream environment
33:38for a flying drone.
33:40Dragonfly will hop
33:41from one location
33:42to another,
33:43searching for life
33:44in that icy landscape.
33:46It's like Ginny's
33:47big cousin,
33:48but with nuclear power
33:49and a whole moon
33:51to explore.
33:52The project Ingenuity's
33:54success is already
33:55inspiring NASA
33:56to design better
33:57Martian helicopters.
33:59Some of them
34:00could be equipped
34:00with grippers
34:01to pick up rock samples
34:02or even join up
34:04with rovers
34:04for full-on search
34:05and collect operations.
34:07Thanks to Ginny,
34:09what started
34:09as a tech demo
34:10could one day evolve
34:12into a fleet
34:13of flying robots
34:14criss-crossing
34:15the red planet?