Mystery Mars Rock Found On Surface

Space scientists are trying to figure out how the mystery Mars rock shaped like a jelly doughnut suddenly appeared on Mars’s surface, in full view of the rover Opportunity’s camera. NASA scientists noticed the mystery Mars rock when reviewing images taken by Opportunity as it explored Endeavor Crater. One shot depicted an empty patch of ruddy ground, but the next shot of the same location 12 Martian days later showed the mysterious rock, which scientists described as being roughly the size and shape of a jelly doughnut, largely white with a dark red depression in the center.

 

Its arrival generated two theories: that the rock had landed there after being displaced by a nearby meteorite impact or, more likely, that it was kicked up and turned over by Opportunity’s wheels. Either way, the rover’s Microscopic Imager was able to analyze a rock surface that appeared not to have been exposed to the atmosphere for billions of years, and found its composition to be very high in sulfur, magnesium, and manganese. “It is clearly a rock,” said NASA investigator Steve Squyres.. “We’re completely confused, and we’re having a wonderful time.”