Public enthusiasm for space exploration peaked in the late 60s and early 70s during the space race that took us to the Moon for the first time.
Since then, probes have done most of the work for us, with the recent James Webb telescope mesmerising people with its stunning images of the cosmos.
However, it still looks like we are years away from putting man back on the Moon as NASA’s Artemis Project is still in its early stages.
Even Elon Musk’s company SpaceX is bypassing the Moon and heading straight for Mars. According to comments made by Buzz Aldrin in the early 2000s, the Red Planet holds plenty for us to discover.
Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, with the former being the place of intrigue.
Buzz, the second man to step on the surface of Earth’s Moon, revealed there is also a monolith there, sat waiting for humanity to discover.
Does Mars have a moon monolith?
Yes, images of the mysterious monolithic object were first taken back in 1998 by the Mars Global Surveyor.
It is a boulder about 85m (279 ft) across and 90m (300 ft) tall and has been described as “building sized” before.
In the original image, it casts a massive, ominous shadow, only extenuating its prominence on the Martian surface.
What did Buzz Aldrin say about Mars’ moon monolith?
In an interview with C-Span in 2009, Buzz Aldrin talked about the future potential of the Earth’s moon for humanity and how it will reignite the public’s interest in space.
Near the end of the conversation, he added a little extra info that raised people’s eyebrows regarding a monolith on the moon.
He said: “Visit the moon of Mars (Phobos), there’s a monolith there, a very unusual structure on this little potato object that goes around Mars once in seven hours.
“When people find out about that there going to say, ‘who put that there?’”
This immediately sparked all kinds of theories regarding aliens, especially because the mere concept of a monolith on a moon harkens back to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
However, Buzz continued: “Well, the universe put it there. If you choose, God put it there.”
What is Mars’ moon monolith?
Monoliths are naturally occurring objects that also can form on Earth, they are geological features consisting of a single massive piece of rock.
One theory for Mars’ strange object is that it is a piece of impact ejecta, originating from another asteroid or interstellar body impacting on the moon.
Due to it appearing alone on what seems to be a fairly flat and barren area, many theories have popped up over the years that the structure is alien in origin.
Buzz’s quote, “who put that there,” has only added fuel to this fire, but all official governing or independent space organisations agree it is a natural formation.
