A photograph made by NASA scientists during the mission on Mars in 2004, that was recently published, sparked a fierce controversy and dispute among scientists. The image shows a formation that looks strikingly like a tree trunk which - yet again - brings into question the existence of past or present life on Mars.
The discovery ignited the spirits of conspiracy theorists who said they were convinced that NASA hides the truth about the Mars mission from the public. Most of them are convinced that life flourished on the Red Planet as it did on Earth and that, for unknown reasons, the U.S. space agency and the U.S. government deliberately hides such information.
Scientists from NASA said that it's just an interpretation in which specific people associate images of unknown objects with ones they have in memory. They say that the "tree" on Mars is nothing but a rock formation with a form that is unusual. Researchers have emphasized that one of the vital elements of life, water, has been discovered on Mars even if it exists exclusively in the form of ice.
"I found two elements that could support life on Mars or are likely to sustain it in the future: water and nutrients from the soil. There was, however, no evidence of the existence of any plant or other living things." said Sam Kounaves, one of the researchers involved in the latest NASA space mission to Mars.
