# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CvxxYHHJ_5G
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/8212479-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/9dfa92e6ad.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-08-10T20:35:14.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

Mars: Is it all it's cracked up to be?⁣

Our Curiosity Mars rover spotted distinctive hexagonal mud cracks that scientists speculate may offer the first evidence of wet-dry cycles on Mars. One of the prevailing theories as to how life began on Earth is that persistent cycles of wet and dry conditions on land helped kickstart the complex chemical building blocks necessary for microbial life.⁣
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Curiosity spotted these mud cracks as it ascended between the sedimentary layers of Mount Sharp in a transitional zone, between a clay-rich layer and an enriched salty mineral region higher up. Transitional zones offer records depicting when long dry periods became prevalent, and rivers and lakes began to recede. The hexagonal patterns occur as the mud dries, shrinking and fracturing into T-shape junctions. When the junctions are repeatedly exposed to water, the T-junctions soften and become Y-shaped, eventually forming hexagons.⁣
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Mars is no stranger to cracks big and small. The Valles Marineris canyon system, seen in the first image here by Viking Orbiter 1, is over 2,000 miles (3,000 km) long, 370 miles (600 km) wide and 5 miles (8 km) deep.⁣
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Swipe to see the mud cracks that are the first evidence that ancient Mars had regular wet-dry cycles, like Earth.⁣
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Visit mars.nasa.gov/news (http://mars.nasa.gov/news) to see a high-res interactive image of the hexagonal terrain.⁣
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Image descriptions:⁣
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Image 1: A mosaic of Mars shows the red planet almost fully lit in the blackness of space. A large canyon etches across the planet's surface near the center of the photo. Mars is shades of brown and red, with some black blemishes.⁣
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Image 2: A zoomed-in image of the surface of Mars shows preserved ancient mud cracks believed to have formed during long cycles of wet and dry conditions over many years. Taken by the Curiosity rover, the image shows hexagonal shapes - almost scale-like in appearance - encrusted all over the dark beige-colored surface.⁣
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Credits:⁣
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Image 1: NASA/JPL-Caltech⁣
Image 2: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/IRAP⁣
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#Mars #Curiosity #RedPlanet #Hexagons #Space #NASA #SolarSystem

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## Tags

hexagons, nasa, space, mars, curiosity, solarsystem, redplanet

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