SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has backed a mission to Mars to investigate the remarkable ‘square structure’ that was captured on NASA‘s Mars Orbiter Camera.
The image, which has gone viral after being shared on Reddit, appears to show a possible archaeological site on the Red Planet.
Joe Rogan, who hosts the number 1 podcast in the world, shared photos of the structure on X, branding it as ‘f***ing wild’.
Musk, responding to his longtime friend’s tweet, said: ‘We should send astronauts to Mars to investigate!’
Experts are yet to provide any official scientific explanation as to what the structure may be, but that hasn’t stopped conspiracy theorists from arguing it is evidence of alien civilisation on Mars.
The square structure is estimated to measure 235metres on each side, approximately 770ft, according to AI Calculations, CAclubindia reported.
Conspiracy theorists have likened the structure to the Great Pyramid in Egypt, which measures at roughly 230metres on each side.
The AI calculations also estimate the structure on Mars may share the same 51.5-degree slope as the Great Pyramid.
An image captured on NASA’s Mars Orbiter Camera, which has gone viral after being shared on Reddit, appears to show a possible archaeological site on the Red Planet
An enhanced version of the photo – which was clean-up, not photoshopped – has also been shared online, revealing the formation with more defined lines. Experts are yet to provide any official scientific explanation as to what the structure may be
Joe Rogan (left, at Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration) shared photos of the structure on X, branding it as ‘f***ing wild’. Elon Musk, (pictured during the inaugural parade) responding to his longtime friend’s tweet, said: ‘We should send astronauts to Mars to investigate!’
The now-viral photograph originates from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor’s Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC).
The image can be viewed Arizona State University’s Mars Image Explorer.
An enhanced version of the photo – which was clean-up, not photoshopped – has also been shared online, revealing the formation with more defined lines.
Little is known about the structure at this time, however it is not the only square-like shape to appear in nature.
Thousands of naturally-produced square and rectangle-like shapes can be found in the Tasman Peninsula of Tasmania, Australia.
The Tessellated Pavements of Eaglehawk Neck are located about an hour away from Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, along the water.
The tile-like rocks are mostly made of siltstone and were formed around 300 million years ago after being disrupted by the Earth’s movement, the BBC reported.
The movement produced cracks – known as joints – in the rocks.
As the Tasman Sea evaporated, salt crystals combined with the joints and waves from the water provided consistent erosion, exaggerating the process to produce the rocks.
Thousands of naturally-produced square and rectangle-like shapes can be found in the Tasman Peninsula of Tasmania, Australia. The Tessellated Pavements of Eaglehawk Neck are located about an hour away from Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, along the water
Although the structure on Mars could have formed naturally, space-loving conspiracy theorists are citing it as proof to support their unsubstantiated claims about an ancient Martian civilisation.
Some conspiracy theorists suggest that could be an imaging artefact, while others argue that it is remains of an alien civilisation.
However, there is a decades-long history of misinterpretation of images captured on Mars.
For example, NASA’s Viking 1 orbiter took a photograph in July 1976 that was dubbed the ‘Face on Mars’ because one rock captured in the picture resembled a human head.
NASA scientists quickly determined the human-like face was created by ‘tricks of light and shadows’, according to Space.com, but that did not stop the public from seizing onto the idea that a Martian civilization once existed.
Another human-face like rock was spotted lying on the Martian landscape last year.
The Perseverance rover photographed the bizarre face on September 27 while making its way through Jezero Crater, a 28-mile-wide region on Mars that may have once been flooded with water.
NASA’s Viking 1 orbiter took a photograph in July 1976 that was dubbed the ‘Face on Mars’ because one rock captured in the picture resembled a human head
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has snapped a photo of a rock resembling a human face (left) on the surface of the red planet in September 2024
Perseverance — a car-sized, remote-controlled mobile lab — has been exploring the dusty basin of this asteroid impact site since February 2021.
The mission is for the rover to search for ancient rocks that could provide insights into Mars’ early history.
Perseverance snapped this picture using its Right Mastcam-Z camera, which is a pair of cameras located high on the rover’s mast, according to NASA.
Also in September last year, NASA’s Mars rover spotted a zebra-striped rock that the mission team named Freya Castle after the summit in the Grand Canyon.
‘Since Freya Castle is a loose stone that is clearly different from the underlying bedrock, it has likely arrived here from someplace else,’ NASA said.
Freya Castle measures roughly eight inches across, and early interpretations of its unique texture suggest that igneous and/or metamorphic processes could have created its stripes, NASA wrote in a statement.
Igneous processes are geological activities that are related to the melting, movement and cooling of magma and lava. Magma is molten rock that lies below the planetary surface, while lava is molten rock that is above the earth’s surface.
Also in September last year, NASA’s Mars rover spotted a zebra-striped rock that the mission team named Freya Castle after the summit in the Grand Canyon
For a billion years, Mars was a highly volcanically active planet, which could have created the conditions necessary for the zebra rock to form, scientists said at the time.
Mars neighbors the main asteroid belt and its atmosphere is only one percent as thick as Earth’s. That means it’s often bombarded by space rocks, which infiltrate Mars’ atmosphere unscathed and land largely in tact.
But the majority of rocks found on the Martian surface were formed by volcanic activity, wind erosion and ancient water flows that have dried up.
Meanwhile, Musk is continuing his quest to reach Mars, despite the fact that Space X’s seventh Starship test flight was ‘destroyed’ last month less than ten minutes after its launch.
The uncrewed test flight was Musk‘s latest attempt to make life on mars a reality after his sixth test flight exploded less than ten minutes into its flight.
The new-generation ship launched from Texas on January 16 and successfully flew for around eight minutes, with the teams’ second breathtaking booster catch, before contact was lost. Officials confirmed that the spacecraft was destroyed.
Debris, with unclear relations to the spacecraft, was captured on camera flying across the Caribbean just minutes after the flight test.
‘Every Starship launch is one more step closer towards Mars,’ Musk said before liftoff, as he hopes his ships will be the first to launch humanity into life on Mars.
The new-generation SpaceX ship launched from Texas on January 16 and successfully flew for around eight minutes, with the teams’ second breathtaking booster catch, before contact was lost
The new Starship was rolled out taller – now standing at 403 feet – and with about 300 more tons of propellant than the last test flight ship, with added upgrades for ‘reliability and performance’
‘Every Starship launch is one more step closer towards Mars,’ Musk said before liftoff, as he hopes his ships will be the first to launch humanity into life on Mars
Debris, with unclear relations to the spacecraft, was captured on camera flying across the Caribbean just minutes after the flight test
The new Starship featured ‘significant upgrades’, SpaceX said. It was rolled out taller – now standing at 403 feet – and with about 300 more tons of propellant than the last test flight ship, with added upgrades for ‘reliability and performance.’
SpaceX announced there would be ‘hardware upgrades to the launch and catch tower to increase reliability for booster catch,’ including enhancements to sensor protections on the chopsticks damaged during the last launch.
As well as a redesigned upper-stage propulsion system that can carry 25 percent more propellant, along with slimmer, repositioned forward flaps to reduce exposure to heat during reentry.
The company also added ten dummy satellites, the same size as SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, for release in space. They were due to follow the same flight path as the spacecraft, ending up destroyed upon entry.
SpaceX’s last successful launch happened in October on its fifth flight test. The sixth, which was witnessed by President-elect Donald Trump in November, made a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
The test flight launched just after 5.30 EST in Texas across the Gulf of Mexico.
Just around 3 minutes into the flight, the Super Heavy booster successfully detached and performed a flip maneuver, making its way back to the launchpad.
Around six and a half minutes into the flight, Super Heavy returned and was successfully caught by the launch tower for SpaceX’s second time.
Around six and a half minutes into the flight on January 16, Super Heavy returned and was successfully caught by the launch tower for SpaceX’s second time
While Stage 1 was successful, contact with the ship was reported to be lost just after the eight-and-a-half-minute mark. Just after the twenty-minute mark, it was confirmed that the ship was lost.
Hours earlier, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin – launched their newest rocket, New Glenn, in Florida. The rocket reached orbit on its first flight, successfully placing an experimental satellite thousands of miles above Earth.
However, the booster was destroyed and missed its targeted landing on a floating platform in the Atlantic.
Musk last year doubled down on his vow to ‘colonise Mars‘ in the wake of the first US lunar touchdown in more than a half century and the first by a privately owned spacecraft.
The achievement prompted Tesla’s X account to bring a quote from Musk that was first referenced in Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography of the South African.
‘I’m going to colonise Mars. My mission in life is to make mankind multiplanetary civilisation,’ the tweet read. Musk’s retweeted the message from his personal account with the accompanying words: ‘Only if civilisation lasts long enough.’
The latter is a likely reference Musk’s long held belief that the world is under populating, saying in 2023 that declining birth rates were ‘the biggest danger civilisation faces so far.’
While Stage 1 was successful, contact with the ship was reported to be lost just after the eight-and-a-half-minute mark
Just after the twenty-minute mark, it was confirmed that the ship was lost
In 2017, Musk said that the number of people on Earth is ‘accelerating towards collapse but few seem to notice or care.’
Then in 2021 he warned that civilisation is ‘going to crumble’ if people don’t have more children.
According Isaacson, Musk first made his comments about colonising Mars while reading a ‘tattered manual for a Russian rocket engine’ in a cabana in Las Vegas at a PayPal event.
Former PayPal exec Mark Woolway happened to ask Musk what he planned to do next.
‘I’m going to colonize Mars. My mission in life is to make mankind a multiplanetary civilization,’ he said.
‘Dude, you’re bananas,’ Woolway responded.
