Mysterious Hole On Mars Could Shelter Humans During Crewed Mission

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has captured a mysterious hole on Mars. This pit on the flank of an ancient volcano is a few meters across and was originally discovered on August 15 2022, reported Space.com.

The report stated that the image of this mysterious pit, located on the side of the now-extinct Arsia Mons volcano, was captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) using a High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera.

At the time, when NASA's spacecraft captured the image, it was just 256 kilometres (159 miles) from Mar's surface.

This mysterious hole is believed to be a vertical shaft.

The report stated that these holes could shelter the astronauts in the future. Reasoning this, the report claimed, “For one, they could provide shelter for astronauts in the future; because Mars has a thin atmosphere and lacks a global magnetic field, it cannot ward off radiation from space the way that Earth does. Consequently, radiation exposure on the Martian surface averages between 40 and 50 times greater than on Earth.”

In addition, these pits could be helpful in giving information about Martian Life. “The other enticing aspect of these pits is they might not just provide shelter for human astronauts; they could hold astrobiological interest in the sense that they could have been sheltered abodes for Martian life in the past — perhaps even today if microbial life indeed exists there,” the report added.

The presence of these holes on the side of volcanoes indicates that they are probably connected to volcanic activity on the red planet. The report added, “Channels of lava can flow away from a volcano underground; when the volcano grows extinct, the channel empties. That leaves behind a long, underground tube. We see such tubes not only on Mars but also on the moon and on Earth.”

It still remains a mystery how deep these holes descend. In addition, it is also unclear whether these holes open into a large cavern or they are contained to a small, cylindrical depression.

The report concluded by saying that if these pits open up into caves, in future they may become a preferable landing site for crewed missions to Mars. Such a mission would require the astronauts to build a sheltered base camp far from the world's unrelenting radiation.