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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMystery Rock 'Appears' in Front of Mars Rover
After a decade of exploring the Martian surface, the scientists overseeing veteran rover Opportunity thought theyd seen it all. That was until a rock mysteriously appeared a few feet in front of the six wheeled rover a few days ago.
News of the errant rock was announced by NASA Mars Exploration Rover lead scientist Steve Squyres of Cornell University at a special NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 10 years of roving Mars event at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, Calif., on Thursday night. The science star-studded public event was held in celebration of the decade since twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity landed on the red planet in January 2004.
While chronicling the scientific discoveries made by both rovers over the years, Squyres discussed the recent finding of suspected gypsum near the rim of Endeavour Crater a region of Meridiani Planum that Opportunity has been studying since 2011 and the discovery of clays that likely formed in a pH-neutral wet environment in Mars past. While these discoveries have been nothing short of groundbreaking, Squyres shared the Mars rovers teams excitement for that one strange rock, exclaiming: Mars keeps throwing new stuff at us!
http://news.discovery.com/space/mystery-rock-appears-in-front-of-mars-rover-140117.htm
greytdemocrat
(3,299 posts)Dash87
(3,220 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)Was it in a bag and set on fire?
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)a piece of the rover, but looking more at the rover, I can't see it......
I'll stick to the martians leaving behind part of their photographic nomenclature just to mind fuck NASA.....LOL
Rex
(65,616 posts)Tommy_Carcetti
(43,085 posts)TlalocW
(15,359 posts)They've had years to observe the rovers, and they've seen how interested it is in rocks so they're trying to be friendly.
TlalocW
TroglodyteScholar
(5,477 posts)What a hearty laugh I just had...!
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Comparing the two photos, it does appear that in the first photo there is an oddly shaped depression exactly where the rock appears in photo #2, and that the outlines of the depression are similar to the shape of the rock. I have no idea what that might mean, if anything. Perhaps some geologists could weigh in here?
dawg
(10,610 posts)I don't see a rock. I see a fissure along the lines of the depression you note in the original photo.
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)the most obvious to me is the 'arrow point' on the 'new object'. As I looked around after that I saw a handful of other features that were present before and also present on the new object.
If this was on my patio I'd be thinking frost heave.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Like you and the poster before you, I think the outline of the "depression" and the rock are so close as to think this is simply some kind of natural process at work.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Do you mean what appears to be a rock is actually a depression and its the play of the light that's creating an illusion of a three dimensional object?
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Look carefully at the "pebbles" on the white surface on the left of both pictures.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)1. It's a meteorite that fell from the sky and landed next to the rover. Atkinson admits that's a long shot, even longer than Opportunity's "cosmic hole-in-one" landing in Mars' Eagle crater on Jan. 25, 2004.
2. It's a piece of Martian rock that was blown out of the ground by a meteoroid impact and landed next to the rover. Still unlikely, he said.
3. The rock previously got stuck in a rover wheel and finally fell out in this spot. Very possible, according to Atkinson.
4. It rolled down a slope from somewhere higher up. "That's the least crazy but also the most boring idea," Atkinson wrote.
Keep in mind many days passed between those two pictures. The rover was in "low power" mode for winter.
ConcernedCanuk
(13,509 posts).
.
.
Mystery solved!
CC
trusty elf
(7,349 posts)Last edited Fri Jan 17, 2014, 11:47 AM - Edit history (1)
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Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)Arcanetrance
(2,670 posts)Baclava
(12,047 posts)It was soooooo horrible
Mystery Science Theater 3000 inductee
Arcanetrance
(2,670 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)hunter
(38,264 posts)They will mess you up.
randome
(34,845 posts)[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]
ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)In a comparison of recent photographs captured by the rovers panoramic camera, or Pancam, on sol 3528 of the mission, only bare bedrock can be seen. But on sol 3540, a fist-sized rock had appeared (raw Pancam images can be found in the mission archive). MER scientists promptly nicknamed the object Pinnacle Island.
Its about the size of a jelly doughnut, Squyres told Discovery News. It was a total surprise, we were like wait a second, that wasnt there before, it cant be right. Oh my god! It wasnt there before! We were absolutely startled.
But the rover didnt roll over that area, so where did Pinnacle Island come from?
Only two options have so far been identified as the rocks source: 1) The rover either flipped the object as it maneuvered or, 2) it landed there, right in front of the rover, after a nearby meteorite impact event. The impact ejecta theory, however, is the least likely of the two.
So my best guess for this rock is that its something that was nearby, said Squyres. I must stress that Im guessing now, but I think it happened when the rover did a turn in place a meter or two from where this rock now lies.
...snip...
http://news.discovery.com/space/mystery-rock-appears-in-front-of-mars-rover-140117.htm
The next few paragraphs of that article are essential to this discussion but I've left them out due to Discovery copyright. It includes Steven Squyres explanation of how he thinks the rock got where it is now.
It obligingly turned upside down, so were seeing a side that hasnt seen the Martian atmosphere in billions of years and there it is for us to investigate. Its just a stroke of luck, he said.
kristopher
(29,798 posts)TiddlyWinks with the rock from the edge of the tire.
Caring for Curiosity
NASA's Curiosity rover is as big as a compact car and weighs a ton ... and it's on Mars. Here's where the journey began. A white-room team works on the six-wheeled spacecraft on Aug. 13, 2011, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (NASA via Getty Images)
yesphan
(1,586 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)1. It's a meteorite that fell from the sky and landed next to the rover. Atkinson admits that's a long shot, even longer than Opportunity's "cosmic hole-in-one" landing in Mars' Eagle crater on Jan. 25, 2004.
2. It's a piece of Martian rock that was blown out of the ground by a meteoroid impact and landed next to the rover. Still unlikely, he said.
3. The rock previously got stuck in a rover wheel and finally fell out in this spot. Very possible, according to Atkinson.
4. It rolled down a slope from somewhere higher up. "That's the least crazy but also the most boring idea," Atkinson wrote.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/What-s-that-New-rock-in-Mars-rover-photos-5149669.php
Sid
kentuck
(110,950 posts)taken higher with different shadows.
Kablooie
(18,571 posts)Against the red Mars soil.
The official term for this object, he said, is "jelly donut".
It has a different material inside from the rim.
longship
(40,416 posts)yesphan
(1,586 posts)If you look closely at the gravely area below the rock with the "new " rock on it, you can see several differences from the "before" photo.
yodermon
(6,143 posts)Clearly.
Paging Richard Hoagland..
librechik
(30,663 posts)on the little bit of flatter looking rock in pic 1. If you look close the anomalous rock repeats the basic shape of the flat bump.
There are tons of mind-blowing anomalies on Mars. This isn't one of them. They don't want the real ones to show in the media. This will make people feel good debunking.
sylvanus
(122 posts)Gas or liquid of some type pushes up thru porous rock,
then freezes up. Maybe?