NASA Recreates Mars 'Spiders' in Lab for the First Time

Scientists simulate Martian conditions to understand the formation of mysterious spider-like features on Mars.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory successfully recreated the conditions needed to form Mars' spider-like landforms in a laboratory setting.
The experiment confirmed the Kieffer model, which suggests that carbon dioxide sublimation under translucent ice slabs creates these formations.
The team used the DUSTIE chamber to simulate Martian temperatures and pressures, achieving ice cracking and gas plumes similar to those observed on Mars.
The recreated spiders formed when trapped gas from sublimating CO2 erupted through the soil, carrying dark dust and sand to the surface.
Future experiments will aim to refine the model and explore why these features appear predominantly in Mars' southern hemisphere.