This story is a part of Welcome to Mars, our collection exploring the crimson planet.
It is all the time a delight when a NASA rover finds one thing that does not slot in on the Martian floor. Typically, it is touchdown particles. Typically it is a rock that wandered over from some place else. Typically it is a meteorite from area. The Curiosity rover workforce is puzzling over a cool little grey rock that stands out from its environment. It is perhaps a meteorite.
“That is an uncommon grey float rock which can be a remnant of fabric larger up Mount Sharp or could also be a meteorite. We’ve analyzed a couple of meteorites over the previous 10 years, however they don’t seem to be so ample that we fail to get excited on the considered a brand new one,” planetary geologist Catherine O’Connell-Cooper wrote in a rover replace this week.
This Curiosity picture from October 2022 exhibits the skinny, darkish layer of the Marker Band operating from left to proper (although it is thinner on the left).
NASA/JPL-Caltech
A “float” rock is one which’s come from some place else. The rock in Curiosity’s picture resembles earlier meteorites discovered on Mars which have a darkish, shiny look to them.
Mars has an extended historical past of being bombarded by rocks from area. NASA’s dearly departed InSight lander even picked up the sounds of meteoroid impacts throughout its mission.
Curiosity is exploring the Gale Crater, working its manner up the slopes of the crater’s large central mountain, Mount Sharp. One space of curiosity here’s a geologic formation known as the Marker Band, which O’Connell-Copper beforehand described as “a skinny darkish band whose origin is unclear.” The thriller rock is situated under the Marker Band.
Meteorites on Mars are value learning. In 2016, NASA investigated a meteorite named “Egg Rock” discovered by Curiosity. Egg Rock was an iron meteorite that will have initially been a part of the core of an asteroid. Scientists are focused on how publicity to the Martian surroundings impacts iron meteorites and the way that compares with what meteorites expertise on Earth.
Curiosity has been on Mars for over 10 years, however its sightseeing by no means will get previous. The thriller rock is simply the most recent little piece of visible intrigue from a captivating planet.
