A NASA spacecraft has spotted curious shapes on the surface of Mars closely resembling the Starfleet logo from the sci-fi hit TV show, Star Trek.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured images of a series of the chevron-style contours on the surface of the red planet.

The intriguing discovery was highlighted by the MRO HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera team at the University of Arizona.

Image: The intriguing discovery is not a calling card from Captain Kirk and his crew, say scientists

Posting an image on Twitter, the Mars watchers said: "Enterprising viewers will make the discovery that these features look conspicuously like a famous logo."

But before diehard Trekkies go into warp speed, scientists say any resemblance is purely coincidental and not a calling card from Captain Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise.


The HiRISE team says the mysterious landscape found in the southeast Hella Plantia region of the cold, desert world was actually created by wind, lava and dunes.

Image: The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been exploring the red planet since 2006

Starting out as large, crescent-shaped dunes at some point there was an eruption and they became landlocked when the flowing lava solidified.

As wind blew over the island outcrops, the sand was eventually taken away, leaving behind "footprints" or "dune casts" in the lava plain.

The MRO has been exploring Mars from orbit since 2006, capturing some of the most detailed images of its surface.