NASA decrypted “message in Morse code” found on the surface of Mars – BBC World

Image copyright NASA / JPL / University of Arizona

Image caption is not the first time observed the region but recent images show more details in high resolution.

“NEE NED … DEIBEDH SIEFI EBEEE”

Not exactly a phrase in Martian language, but remember . the speech of Mork, the alien fictional television series of the 70s starring Robin Williams

But is reached Mars message: part of interpretation in Morse code of points and lines found in a dark dunes near the Martian north pole made by the Aerospace Agency of the United States, NASA .

it is not the first time scientists have detected the pattern on the sands of Mars but the new images, taken on February 6, 2016, show it with greater clarity and detail the unique topography of the region , which allowed “translate” the “message”.

and even if they caused uproar among some believers in UFOs and conspiracy theorists, points and lines formed of naturally , in the same way that happens with dunes on Earth. carved by wind direction

Complexity wind

in a press release NASA said the sharp relief patterns on the dune are due to be located within a special topography : depression Circular probably formed by the impact of an asteroid and has a limited amount of sand that can be blown by the wind.

the result is distinctive lines and points captured by the camera Imaging Science Experiment High Resolution ( HiRISE , its acronym in English), which is on board the ship Mars Reconnnaissance Orbiter , which has been photographing the Red Planet from orbit during the last decade.

Image copyright NASA / JPL / University of Arizona

Image caption detailed image of points and lines in the region near the Martian north pole.

The images have clarified some of the complexity of the wind patterns on Mars .

The “lines” long are formed by Two-way winds , which means they are winds blowing at right angles against the dune.

Over time, the wind blowing in one direction or another spreads the material as a funnel-shaped long dark lines that can be seen in the detailed images.

on the other hand, the “points”, known as dunes “barcanoides “, are a bit more mysterious.

the geophysicists think that form when something disrupts the production of linear dunes.

But NASA scientists are not quite sure what they are treated precisely the reason why are photographing the region.

More analysis

more observation , geophysicists hope to learn more about how the dunes on the surface of Mars are formed and what that can tell us about the probability of inhabiting the planet.

Image copyright NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

Image caption the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been photographing the planet’s surface from orbit for a decade.

Until that happens, the planetary scientist at NASA Veronica Bray translated the message into Morse code and this is what they say the mysterious sands of Mars:

NEE NED ZB 6TNN DEIBEDH SIEFI EBEEE SSIEI ESEE SEEE !!

Before you take out the interstellar dictionary, the message is nothing more than a fun time between geophysicists who take seriously their studies.

But the serious scientific interpretation of the sands of Mars will help us better understand what might be living in a future base on that planet.