08 Georgiou
andBurnham
maketracks
in“TheVulcan
Hello.”
09 TheMartian
deltas...
10 ...anda
close-upof
oneofthem.Ina curiousechoofthepre-credits
sceneinthefirstepisodeofStarTrek:
DiscoverySeason1,NASAscientists
havediscoveredstrangechevron
shapesresemblingtheStarfleetdelta
onthesurfaceofMars.
PhotographedbytheMars
ReconnaissanceOrbiter,theshapes
werespottedintheplanet’ssouth-east
HellasPlanitiaplain.IntheDiscovery
episode“The VulcanHello,”Captain
GeorgiouandMichaelBurnham
createda deltaona planetarysurface
outoftheirownfootprints,butthe
onesonMarsaretheresultofa rather
longergeologicalprocess.
AccordingtoNASA,“Long
ago,therewerelargecrescent-shaped(barchan) dunes that moved across
thisarea, and at some point, there was
aneruption. Th e lava fl owed out over
theplain and around the dunes, but
notover them. Th e lava solidifi ed, but
thesedunes still stuck up like islands.
However, they were still just dunes,
andthe wind continued to blow.
Eventually, the sand piles that werethe dunes migrated away, leaving these
‘footprints’ in the lava plain.”
Wittily noting, “Enterprising
viewers will make the discovery that
these features look conspicuously like a
famous logo,” NASA pointed out that
the similarity was “only a coincidence.”
For more on the Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter, go to mars.nasa.gov/mro/.THETHE MARTIANMARTIAN
HELLOHELLO
Geology imitates art on Mars
081009NEWS