As Mr Spock would say, it’s a ‘highly illogical’ discovery. But it seems there really is a Star Trek insignia on the surface of Mars.
The ‘Starfleet’ emblem adorns the uniforms of Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise in the sci-fi show – and now we know it is a feature of the Red Planet, too.
Nasa’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed a crescent-shaped dune imprint resembling the logo. The mission control team quipped in a tweet: ‘Enterprising viewers will make the discovery that these features look conspicuously like a famous logo.’
Nasa scientists said the formation began as a crescent-shaped dune that became an island in a sea of lava before the sand eventually blew away in the wind.
Caption Spotlight (12 Jun 2019): Dune Footprints in Hellas
Enterprising viewers will make the discovery that these features look conspicuously like a famous logo.
More: https://t.co/CAq5xBbDwf
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona #Mars #science pic.twitter.com/N5MfKQPiYt
— HiRISE (NASA) (@HiRISE) June 12, 2019
Star Trek and Nasa have a history of connections. In the 1970s, the Constitution space shuttle was renamed Enterprise after a campaign by sci-fi fans.
The term space shuttle itself is thought to have come from a craft in the show. And the Star Trek Starfleet symbol itself has a resemblance to Nasa’s own logo.