If there ’s one thing to be said for Curiosity ’s deputation on Mars so far , it certainly has n’t been wearisome . Fromsupposed Martian squirrelstostrange flash lamp of sparkle on the Earth’s surface , the rover has kept us entertained . And now there ’s this rather odd … ball .
https://gizmodo.com/nasa-totally-found-a-squirrel-on-mars-and-didnt-tell-a-510490870
https://gizmodo.com/whats-that-strange-light-emanating-from-the-martian-su-1560934135
Although the six - wheeled rover has take thousands of pic of Martian rock ‘n’ roll , the full-bodied diversity of Mars ’ landscape has provide many beautiful exercise of planetary geology and some geology that is downright eldritch .
Take this late photographic example from the Mars Science Laboratory ’s Mastcam television camera that wasuploaded to the charge ’s photograph archive on sol 746 ( Sept. 11 ) . While hoard a arial mosaic of trope of the palisade landscape painting , Curiosity enamour a rather un - Mars - like chassis atop a jolting outcropping .
There ’s a perfect - looking vault of heaven sitting proudly on a flat rock surface . It ’s dust-covered , but under that dust it come along a niggling blue than the surrounding rock-and-roll .
At first glance it looks like an old cannonball or perhaps a dirty golf game ball . But knowing that Mars is somewhat wanting in the 16th - 100 battlewagon and golf cart section , there was likely another answer . Of naturally it ’s nothing military man ( or alien)-made , despite what your brain might be telling you . It ’s another fascinating rock . Yep , it ’s a global Mars rock ‘n’ roll .
According to MSL scientist based at NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) in Pasadena , Calif. , the orchis is n’t as big as it looks — it ’s approximately one centimeter widely . Their explanation is that it is most potential something known as a “ coalescence . ” Other example of concretion have been found on the Martian surface before — take , for example , the tiny haematite compaction , or “ blueberries”,observed by Mars rover Opportunity in 2004 — and they were created during aqueous rock formation when Mars was abundant in swimming water many billion of years ago .
By now we all eff that Mars used to be a lot surface-active agent than it is now . Curiosity cursorily worked out thatit was exploring an ancient lakebedshortly after it landed inside Gale Crater in August 2012 . That ancient lakebed is characterise by obvious layering of sedimentary tilt . On Earth , sedimentary rock-and-roll is formed through the interaction of liquid water transport and situate cloth — the same process also occurred on Mars .
Within the newly form aqueous rock , pore are of necessity created and minerals seep into those pores , gradually build up an erosion - resistant people . Over time , as the soft aqueous rock is eroded away , the calculus remains behind . And this little sector is one such exercise — the ball has either emerged from the rudimentary sedimentary rock that has eroded away or , perhaps , it flap from somewhere else over time .
Now that Curiosityhas reached the al-Qaeda of Aeolis Mons ( also known as Mount Sharp ) , the 3.5 statute mile - high mountain in the center of Gale Crater , scientists are excited for the rover to lead off its next round of drill operations into the layered rock . small-grained rock samples will then be psychoanalyze so we can gain an thought about how habitable the Red Planet was throughout its ancient history and whether or not it may have been able to support microbic lifespan .
The long two - twelvemonth journeying from its landing website to Mount Sharp has n’t come without its problems , however . An unlooked-for amount of wear and bout by the craggy Mars surfacehas select its bell on Curiosity ’s wheels , causing dents , puncture and rips in the flimsy atomic number 13 . This has prompted roamer drivers to drive the roamer rearward to limit the wrong and to get help from NASA ’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to picture the surround landscape , obtain the smoothest path .
But so far , so good , Curiosity is at Mount Sharp to continue its scientific investigation into Mars ’ habitable history . So we can expect many more examples of interesting rock-and-roll to come , globose and otherwise .
Many thanks to JPL ’s Guy Webster for quickly seeking out an answer to my dubiousness and to Paul Scott Anderson ofThe Meridiani Journalfortweeting a link to this absorbing photo .
This articleoriginally appearedat Discovery News and is republished here with permission .
curiosity roverExogeologyGeologyMarsrocks
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