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By USH
In the remote wilderness of the Shoria Mountains in southern Siberia, a long-hidden secret has remained untouched for millennia. Far from the reach of modern civilization, a discovery was made that would challenge our understanding of ancient human history.
In 2013, a team of 19 researchers, led by Georgy Sidorov, embarked on an expedition to explore this mysterious region. Their destination was Gora Shoria, a mountain towering 3,600 feet above sea level in a remote part of Russia. Intrigued by reports of strange megalithic structures, the team ventured into this secluded terrain.
What they found was extraordinary: an immense super-megalith dating back roughly 100,000 years that defied conventional history. These massive stone blocks, later known as the Gornaya Shoria Megaliths, appeared to be made of granite, featuring flat surfaces and precise right angles. The most astounding detail was the weight of the stones, exceeding 3,000 tons—making them the largest megaliths ever discovered.
The arrangement of these granite blocks suggested a deliberate design, far beyond what could be explained by natural formations. The blocks were carefully stacked, reaching a height of approximately 140 feet. This raised profound questions: how were such massive stones carved, transported, and assembled in this remote and rugged landscape?
Some researchers have speculated about the existence of a pre-flood civilization, a sophisticated society wiped out by a cataclysmic event.
Also a deep, narrow vertical shaft was uncovered. The shaft, lined with parallel stone slabs, appeared to be human-made.
The walls of the shaft were straight and polished, descending 40 meters (around 130 feet) before opening into a vast underground hall, 36 meters (around 118 feet) high. These walls were constructed from large megalithic blocks, perfectly fitted with minimal gaps. Some of the stones resembled columns, reinforcing the idea of deliberate design. The full explored length of the shaft spanned over 100 meters (approximately 350 feet).
The precision and scale of this structure left no doubt that it was an artificial creation of immense proportions. The polished walls and massive blocks bore a striking resemblance to the shafts within the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt, suggesting a level of architectural sophistication that defies conventional explanations.
Speculation abounds regarding the shaft’s original purpose. Some believe it served an advanced technological function or was part of a larger, undiscovered structure. The exploration team took over an hour to reach the bottom of the shaft, which required significant climbing expertise and endurance. It is believed that additional chambers and channels, still unexplored, may lie even deeper underground.
How could these gigantic 200-ton stone blocks have been assembled with such accuracy, deep underground? What kind of technology was used to construct the shaft and underground chamber?
Some researchers have speculated that it may have been part of an ancient factory, a seismological research device, or even an energy generator. Others believe it was the underground portion of a long-lost pyramid that once stood on the surface of the mountain.
Despite differing theories, we may wonder what ancient forces or lost civilizations left their mark on this remote corner of the world?
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Tests on Earth appear to confirm how the Red Planet’s spider-shaped geologic formations are carved by carbon dioxide.
Spider-shaped features called araneiform terrain are found in the southern hemisphere of Mars, carved into the landscape by carbon dioxide gas. This 2009 image taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows several of these distinctive formations within an area three-quarters of a mile (1.2 kilometers) wide. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona Dark splotches seen in this example of araneiform terrain captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2018 are believed to be soil ejected from the surface by carbon dioxide gas plumes. A set of experiments at JPL has sought to re-create these spider-like formations in a lab. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona Since discovering them in 2003 via images from orbiters, scientists have marveled at spider-like shapes sprawled across the southern hemisphere of Mars. No one is entirely sure how these geologic features are created. Each branched formation can stretch more than a half-mile (1 kilometer) from end to end and include hundreds of spindly “legs.” Called araneiform terrain, these features are often found in clusters, giving the surface a wrinkled appearance.
The leading theory is that the spiders are created by processes involving carbon dioxide ice, which doesn’t occur naturally on Earth. Thanks to experiments detailed in a new paper published in The Planetary Science Journal, scientists have, for the first time, re-created those formation processes in simulated Martian temperatures and air pressure.
Here’s a look inside of JPL’s DUSTIE, a wine barrel-size chamber used to simulate the temperatures and air pressure of other planets – in this case, the carbon dioxide ice found on Mars’ south pole. Experiments conducted in the chamber confirmed how Martian formations known as “spiders” are created.NASA/JPL-Caltech “The spiders are strange, beautiful geologic features in their own right,” said Lauren Mc Keown of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “These experiments will help tune our models for how they form.”
The study confirms several formation processes described by what’s called the Kieffer model: Sunlight heats the soil when it shines through transparent slabs of carbon dioxide ice that built up on the Martian surface each winter. Being darker than the ice above it, the soil absorbs the heat and causes the ice closest to it to turn directly into carbon dioxide gas — without turning to liquid first — in a process called sublimation (the same process that sends clouds of “smoke” billowing up from dry ice). As the gas builds in pressure, the Martian ice cracks, allowing the gas to escape. As it seeps upward, the gas takes with it a stream of dark dust and sand from the soil that lands on the surface of the ice.
When winter turns to spring and the remaining ice sublimates, according to the theory, the spiderlike scars from those small eruptions are what’s left behind.
These formations similar to the Red Planet’s “spiders” appeared within Martian soil simulant during experiments in JPL’s DUSTIE chamber. Carbon dioxide ice frozen within the simulant was warmed by a heater below, turning it back into gas that eventually cracked through the frozen top layer and formed a plume.NASA/JPL-Caltech Re-Creating Mars in the Lab
For Mc Keown and her co-authors, the hardest part of conducting these experiments was re-creating conditions found on the Martian polar surface: extremely low air pressure and temperatures as low as minus 301 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 185 degrees Celsius). To do that, Mc Keown used a liquid-nitrogen-cooled test chamber at JPL, the Dirty Under-vacuum Simulation Testbed for Icy Environments, or DUSTIE.
“I love DUSTIE. It’s historic,” Mc Keown said, noting that the wine barrel-size chamber was used to test a prototype of a rasping tool designed for NASA’s Mars Phoenix lander. The tool was used to break water ice, which the spacecraft scooped up and analyzed near the planet’s north pole.
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This video shows Martian soil simulant erupting in a plume during a JPL lab experiment that was designed to replicate the process believed to form Martian features called “spiders.” When a researcher who had tried for years to re-create these conditions spotted this plume, she was ecstatic. NASA/JPL-Caltech For this experiment, the researchers chilled Martian soil simulant in a container submerged within a liquid nitrogen bath. They placed it in the DUSTIE chamber, where the air pressure was reduced to be similar to that of Mars’ southern hemisphere. Carbon dioxide gas then flowed into the chamber and condensed from gas to ice over the course of three to five hours. It took many tries before Mc Keown found just the right conditions for the ice to become thick and translucent enough for the experiments to work.
Once they got ice with the right properties, they placed a heater inside the chamber below the simulant to warm it up and crack the ice. Mc Keown was ecstatic when she finally saw a plume of carbon dioxide gas erupting from within the powdery simulant.
“It was late on a Friday evening and the lab manager burst in after hearing me shrieking,” said Mc Keown, who had been working to make a plume like this for five years. “She thought there had been an accident.”
The dark plumes opened holes in the simulant as they streamed out, spewing simulant for as long as 10 minutes before all the pressurized gas was expelled.
The experiments included a surprise that wasn’t reflected in the Kieffer model: Ice formed between the grains of the simulant, then cracked it open. This alternative process might explain why spiders have a more “cracked” appearance. Whether this happens or not seems dependent on the size of soil grains and how embedded water ice is underground.
“It’s one of those details that show that nature is a little messier than the textbook image,” said Serina Diniega of JPL, a co-author of the paper.
What’s Next for Plume Testing
Now that the conditions have been found for plumes to form, the next step is to try the same experiments with simulated sunlight from above, rather than using a heater below. That could help scientists narrow down the range of conditions under which the plumes and ejection of soil might occur.
There are still many questions about the spiders that can’t be answered in a lab. Why have they formed in some places on Mars but not others? Since they appear to result from seasonal changes that are still occurring, why don’t they seem to be growing in number or size over time? It’s possible that they’re left over from long ago, when the climate was different on Mars— and could therefore provide a unique window into the planet’s past.
For the time being, lab experiments will be as close to the spiders as scientists can get. Both the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers are exploring the Red Planet far from the southern hemisphere, which is where these formations appear (and where no spacecraft has ever landed). The Phoenix mission, which landed in the northern hemisphere, lasted only a few months before succumbing to the intense polar cold and limited sunlight.
News Media Contacts
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Sep 11, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
On Sept. 9, 1994, space shuttle Discovery took to the skies on its 19th trip into space. During their 11-day mission, the STS-64 crew of Commander Richard “Dick” N. Richards, Pilot L. Blaine Hammond, and Mission Specialists Jerry M. Linenger, Susan J. Helms, Carl J. Meade, and Mark C. Lee demonstrated many of the space shuttle’s capabilities. They used a laser instrument to observe the Earth’s atmosphere, deployed and retrieved a science satellite, and used the shuttle’s robotic arm for a variety of tasks, including studying the orbiter itself. During a spacewalk, Lee and Meade tested a new device to rescue astronauts who found themselves detached from the vehicle. Astronauts today use the device routinely for spacewalks from the International Space Station.
Left: The STS-64 crew patch. Middle: Official photo of the STS-64 crew of L. Blaine Hammond, front row left, Richard “Dick” N. Richards, and Susan J. Helms; Mark C. Lee, back row left, Jerry M. Linenger, and Carl J. Meade. Right: The patch for the Lidar In-space Technology Experiment.
In November 1993, NASA announced the five-person all-veteran STS-64 crew. Richards, selected as an astronaut in 1980, had made three previous spaceflights, STS-28, STS-41, and STS-50. Lee, a member of the astronaut class of 1984, had two flights to his credit, STS-30 and STS-47, as did Meade, selected in 1985 and a veteran of STS-38 and STS-50. Each making their second trip into space, Hammond, selected in 1984 had flown on STS-39, and Helms, from the class of 1990 had flown on STS-54. In February 1994, NASA added first time space flyer Linenger to the crew, partly to make him eligible for a flight to Mir. He holds the distinction as the first member of his astronaut class of 1992 to fly in space.
Left: Workers tow Discovery from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Middle: Space shuttle Discovery arrives at Launch Pad 39B, left, with space shuttle Endeavour still on Launch Pad 39A. Right: The STS-64 crew exits crew quarters at KSC on their way to the launch.
Discovery returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida following its previous flight, the STS-60 mission, in February 1994. Workers in KSC’s Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) removed the previous payload and began to service the orbiter. On May 26, workers moved Discovery into the Vehicle Assembly Building for temporary storage to make room in the OPF for Atlantis, just returned from Palmdale, California, where it underwent modifications to enable extended duration flights and dockings with space stations. Discovery returned to the OPF for payload installation in July, and rolled back to the VAB on Aug. 11 for mating with its external tank and solid rocket boosters. Discovery rolled out to Launch Pad 39B on Aug. 19, with its sister ship Endeavour still on Launch Pad 39A following the previous day’s launch abort. The six-person crew traveled to KSC to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, essentially a dress rehearsal for the launch countdown, on Aug. 24.
Liftoff of Discovery on the STS-64 mission.
On Sept. 9, 1994, after a more than two-hour delay caused by inclement weather, Discovery thundered into the sky to begin the STS-64 mission. Eight and a half minutes later, the orbiter and its crew reached space, and with a firing of the shuttle’s Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) engines they entered a 160-mile orbit inclined 57 degrees to the equator, ideal for Earth and atmospheric observations. The crew opened the payload bay doors, deploying the shuttle’s radiators, and removed their bulky launch and entry suits, stowing them for the remainder of the flight. They began to convert their vehicle into a science platform.
Left: LIDAR (light detection and ranging) In-space Technology Experiment (LITE) telescope in Discovery’s payload bay. Middle: Schematic of LITE data acquisition. Right: Image created from LITE data of clouds over southeast Asia.
One of the primary payloads on STS-64, the LIDAR (light detection and ranging) In-space Technology Experiment (LITE), mounted in Discovery’s forward payload bay, made the first use of a laser to study Earth’s atmosphere, cloud cover, and airborne dust from space. Lee, with help from Richards and Meade, activated LITE, built at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, on the flight’s first day. The experiment operated for 53 hours during the mission, gathering 43 hours of high-rate data shared with 65 groups in 20 countries.
Left: View of the shuttle’s Remote Manipulator System, or robotic arm, holding the 33-foot long Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX). Middle: Closeup view of SPIFEX. Right: A video camera view of Discovery from SPIFEX.
The Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX), built at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, consisted of a package of instruments positioned on the end of a 33-foot boom, to characterize the behavior of the shuttle’s Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters. On the flight’s second day, Helms used the shuttle’s Remote Manipulator System (RMS), or robotic arm, to pick up SPIFEX. Over the course of the mission, she, Lee, and Hammond took turns operating the arm to obtain 100 test points during various thruster firings. A video camera on SPIFEX returned images of Discovery from several unusual angles.
Left: Astronaut Susan J. Helms lifts the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 (SPARTAN-201) out of Discovery’s payload bay prior to its release. Middle: Discovery approaches SPARTAN during the rendezvous. Right: Astronaut Susan J. Helms operating the Shuttle’s Remote Manipulator System prepares to grapple SPARTAN.
On the mission’s fifth day, Helms used the RMS to lift the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 (SPARTAN-201) satellite out of the payload bay and released it. Two and a half minutes later, SPARTAN activated itself, and Richards maneuvered Discovery away from the satellite so it could begin its science mission. On flight day seven, Discovery began its rendezvous with SPARTAN, and Hammond flew the shuttle close enough for Helms to grapple it with the arm and place it back in the payload bay. During its two-day free flight, SPARTAN’s two telescopes studied the acceleration and velocity of the solar wind and measured aspects of the Sun’s corona or outer atmosphere.
Left: Patch for the Simplified Aid for EVA (Extravehicular Activity) Rescue (SAFER). Middle: Astronauts Mark C. Lee, left, and Carl J. Meade during the 15-minute prebreathe prior to their spacewalk. Right: Lee, left, tests the SAFER while Meade works on other tasks in the payload bay.
On flight day seven, in preparation for the following day’s spacewalk, the astronauts lowered the pressure in the shuttle from 14.7 pounds per square inch (psi) to 10.2 psi to reduce the likelihood of the spacewalkers, Lee and Meade, from developing decompression sickness, also known as the bends. As an added measure, the two spent 15 minutes breathing pure oxygen before donning their spacesuits and exiting the shuttle’s airlock.
Left: Astronaut Mark C. Lee tests the Simplified Aid for EVA (Extravehicular Activity) Rescue (SAFER) during an untethered spacewalk. Middle: Astronaut Carl J. Meade tests the SAFER during an untethered spacewalk. Right: Meade, left, tests the ability of the SAFER to stop his spinning as Lee looks on.
The main tasks of the spacewalk involved testing the Simplified Aid for EVA (Extravehicular Activity) Rescue (SAFER), a device designed at JSC that attaches to the spacesuit’s Portable Life Support System backpack. The SAFER contains nitrogen jets that an astronaut can use, should he or she become untethered, to fly back to the vehicle, either the space shuttle or the space station. The two put the SAFER through a series of tests, including a familiarization, a system engineering evaluation, a crew rescue evaluation, and a precision flight evaluation. During the tests, Lee and Meade remained untethered from the shuttle, the first untethered spacewalk since STS-51A in November 1984. Lee and Meade successfully completed all the tests and gave the SAFER high marks. Astronauts conducting spacewalks from the space station use the SAFER as a standard safety device. Following the 6-hour 51-minute spacewalk, the astronauts raised the shuttle’s atmosphere back to 14.7 psi.
A selection of STS-64 crew Earth observation photographs. Left: Mt. St. Helens in Washington State. Middle left: Cleveland, Ohio. Middle right: Rabaul Volcano, Papua New Guinea. Right: Banks Peninsula, New Zealand.
Like on all space missions, the STS-64 astronauts spent their spare time looking out the window. They took numerous photographs of the Earth, their high inclination orbit allowing them views of parts of the planet not seen during typical shuttle missions.
Left: The Solid Surface Combustion Experiment middeck payload. Middle: Jerry M. Linenger gets in a workout while also evaluating the treadmill. Right: Inflight photograph of the STS-64 crew.
In addition to their primary tasks, the STS-64 crew also conducted a series of middeck experiments and tested hardware for future use on the space shuttle and space station.
Left: Commander Richard “Dick” Richards suited up for reentry. Middle: Pilot L. Blaine Hammond, left, and Mission Specialists Carl J. Meade and Susan J. Helms prepare for reentry. Right: Hammond fully suited for entry and landing.
Mission managers had extended the original flight duration by one day for additional data collection for the various payloads. On the planned reentry day, Sept. 19, bad weather at KSC forced the crew to spend an additional day in space. The next day, continuing inclement weather caused them to wave off the first two landing attempts at KSC and diverted to Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California.
Left: Richard Richards brings Discovery home at California’s Edwards Air Force Base. Middle: Workers at Edwards safe Discovery after its return from STS-64. Right: Discovery takes off from Edwards atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for the ferry flight to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
On Sept. 20, they closed Discovery’s payload bay doors, donned their launch and entry suits, and strapped themselves into their seats for entry and landing. They fired Discover’s OMS engines to drop them out of orbit. Richards piloted Discovery to a smooth landing at Edwards, ending the 10-day 22-hour 50-minute flight. The crew had orbited the Earth 176 times. Workers at Edwards safed the vehicle and placed it atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for the ferry flight back to KSC. The duo left Edwards on Sept. 26, and after an overnight stop at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, arrived at KSC the next day. Workers there began preparing Discovery for its next flight, the STS-63 Mir rendezvous mission, in February 1995.
Enjoy the crew narrate a video about the STS-64 mission. Read Richards’ recollections of the mission in his oral history with the JSC History Office.
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The four-person crew of the Polaris Dawn mission pictured wearing their SpaceX extravehicular activity suits.Credit: SpaceX NASA researchers will soon benefit from a suite of experiments flying aboard a new fully-commercial human spaceflight mission, strengthening future agency science as we venture to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
The experiments are flying as part of the Polaris Dawn mission which launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket earlier today.
The four-person Polaris Dawn crew of Jared Isaacman, Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon will conduct science during the mission including essential health and human performance research for NASA’s Human Research Program. The research will help NASA scientists better understand how exposure to space conditions affects the human body. The crew will test new medical approaches and technology on telemedicine capabilities, gather data on space motion sickness, and better characterize flight-associated injury risks.
“Each mission, whether the crew is comprised of commercial or NASA astronauts, provides a key opportunity to expand our knowledge about how spaceflight affects human health,” said Jancy McPhee, associate chief scientist for human research at NASA. “Information gathered from Polaris Dawn will give us critical insights to help NASA plan for deeper space travel to the Moon and Mars.”
The crew will test drive, a commercial device that can collect and integrate measurements of health, including blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate, and temperature. The technology also provides ultrasound imaging and larynx and throat-focused video camera capabilities, and includes an experimental telemedicine feature that could help diagnose crew members in near-real time.
To test this technology during the mission, crew members will compare vital sign collection from the device with data gathered from standard periodic health status exams. The technology’s telemedicine feature, which relies on SpaceX’s Starlink communications system to connect with doctors and specialists on Earth, will also be tested during a simulation. During the test, the device will attempt to offer an appropriate diagnosis based on crew inputs and available documentation.
“Crew members will need to be more self-reliant during lengthy missions, and we hope that telemedicine can provide crews with assistance,” said McPhee.
Another research project aims to better understand and prevent the motion sickness symptoms that many astronauts experience in space. Participating crew members will describe their motion sickness symptoms, what interventions they tried to alleviate their symptoms, and whether any approaches helped.
A separate NASA-based research project will survey crew members after their mission to see whether they experienced any injuries or discomfort during re-entry to Earth.
“Our team will take the crew’s survey data and combine it with information gathered from sensors on the spacecraft. This will allow us to link crews’ reported experiences and health outcomes with the spacecraft’s dynamics and landing loads,” said Preston Greenhalgh, an injury biomechanist at NASA who is leading this work.
Crew members also will participate in a variety of other health studies on behalf of the NASA-funded TRISH (Translational Research Institute for Health), a consortium with various academic institutions. As part of that work, the Polaris Dawn mission will set a new baseline for collecting standard health data on commercial spaceflights, creating a complement to the datasets routinely collected from NASA astronauts and missions.
Polaris Dawn crew members participating in these TRISH studies will provide data about how spaceflight affects mental and physical health through a rigorous set of medical tests and scans completed before, after, and during the mission. The work will include assessments of behavior, sleep, bone density, eye health, cognitive function, and other factors, as well as analysis of blood, urine, and respiration.
“We’re so grateful to the crew members who volunteer to be part of NASA’s work. The insights that we gain from each study may trigger breakthroughs that will help ensure future mission success,” said McPhee.
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NASA’s Human Research Program pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, commercial missions, and the International Space Station, the program scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research continues to drive NASA’s mission to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as space exploration expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
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