Mars orbiter spies 'barcode' aftermath of rare Red Planet avalanche caused by meteoroid impact

On Christmas Eve in 2023, a European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft captured what looks like a barcode etched into the rusty slopes of Mars.

The image, taken by ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, shows dark, finger-like trails streaking down the flanks of Apollinaris Mons, a vast extinct volcano near the Martian equator. Each stripe — some just a few yards wide, others hundreds across — traces the path of a dust avalanche, triggered when a meteoroid struck the surface, shaking loose fine grains that cascaded downslope, according to a ESA statement.

Although these enigmatic features occupy less than 0.1% of the Martian surface, they play an outsized role in the planet's dust cycle, scientists say. Together, slope streaks move enough dust each Martian year to rival at least two global storms,