NASA is looking for 'spiders' on Mars

NASA scientists have much to discover about Mars, but they are getting quite a bit of help from volunteers.

Citizen scientists have been assisting with locating "spiders" on Mars.

The sort they're looking for are not, of course, the creepy crawly kind, but rather terrain features that bear a striking resemblance to the arachnids.

Such patterns form when ice layers closest to the ground melt, sending carbon dioxide and dust into the upper sheet.

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According to NASA, "...the volunteers have been exploring the surface of Mars by reviewing images from the Context Camera (CTX) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and identifying certain types of seasonal terrains near Mars' south pole."

They have already located nearly 2 dozen places of interest not previously known to the agency.

Now that they have been identified, the NASA will be using its mighty HiRISE camera to investigate further.

Candice Hansen, HiRISE Deputy Principal Investigator, said, "Thanks to the discovery power of so many people, we're using HiRISE to take images of places we might not have studied without this assistance."