“Mysterious” appearance of a rock on Mars

“Mysterious” appearance of a rock on Mars

A rock, which resembles a “jelly-filled pastry”, appeared on Mars. NASA scientists are intrigued, since the rock did not appear in the earlier photographs from the same place taken by the probe Opportunity.

Earlier this month, the probe Opportunity took a picture of the rock, which seemed to spring from nowhere. Its exterior is white and the Center is dark red.

The scientific Chief Steve Squyres has a hypothesis. In a presentation last week, said that one of the wheels of Opportunity probably kicked the rock, which then slid to its field of vision.

The first tests carried out a part of the rock that looks like “jelly” revealed different characteristics from any other rock discovered by the probe during its decade of work on Mars. The rock is rich in sulfur and magnesium, and scientists try to find out why.