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It’s a lizard, it’s a cat, it’s a Martian rock… whimsical!
The Mars Curiosity rover recently got a glimpse of this cute little rock feature in Gale Crater, where the rover has been exploring since 2012. The tiny textured arch is only 6.5 inches (16.5 centimeters) high, but its shape idiosyncratic excited mission scientists. .
“I continue to be dazzled by the textures we see, especially the prevalence of centimeter-sized bumps and lumps sticking out of bedrock,” said planetary geologist Abigail Fraeman of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. . written in a blog post on functionality.
Related: Seeing Things on Mars: A History of Martian Illusions
The textured arch sits at the base of Mount Sharp, a peak that rises 5.5 kilometers from the floor of Gale Crater. According to Fraeman, Curiosity is exploring an interesting geology at the transition between heavy clay layers and sulfate-laden layers in mountain rocks. Sulphates can be left behind by flowing water, so exploring these sulphate-containing layers can help learn more about Mars’ wet past.
Curiosity was originally designed for a two-year mission to Mars, but the SUV-sized robot has been roaming Gale Crater for nine years, take selfies and make scientific discoveries. Recently, scientists analyzing data returned by Curiosity learned that the clays lining Gale Crater are less stable than previously believed, meaning that evidence of past microbial life in the area could have been erased. However, the brines that erased could also have fostered new life in the subsoil, so scientists are still excited about the possibility of finding Martian fossils, if they existed.
The rover now heads further up Mount Sharp, stopping along the way to take photos and analyze rock composition with ChemCam, an instrument that uses lasers to vaporize tiny chunks of rock, then measures chemicals and minerals in these samples.
Originally posted on Live Science.
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