NASA rover discovers mysterious rock unlike any other on Mars

If you look at this Mars The view evokes childhood memories of the song, “One of these things ain’t the same as the others.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) The scientists are with you.

PerseveranceThe Neretva Canyon, a car-sized laboratory on six wheels, was driven to the Red Planet’s Neretva Canyon last week. The area may look like a barren desert, but billions of years ago it was the channel of an ancient river that flowed into the Jezero Crater.

As Perseverance crossed the bay, it came upon a rocky hillside, the most that caught the science team’s attention was a bright speck of rock floating in a sea of ​​dark boulders.

“Every now and then, we’ll spot something odd out there on the Martian landscape and the team will say, ‘Oh, let’s go there,'” Katie Stack Morgan, deputy project scientist for NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, told Mashable. “This was like the textbook definition of chasing bright, shiny things, because it was so bright and white.”

This rock is so rare that scientists A league of its ownDetailed analysis by the rover’s instruments determined that the rock is likely anorthosite, a rock type that has never been seen before during Mars exploration, but there were indications that such rocks exist, Stack Morgan said. Curiosity Roverhas observed a variety of other phenomena in Gale Crater and has witnessed something similar to this.

The Mars rover Perseverance has discovered a rare rock on Mars that appears to be anorthosite.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU

Such anorthosites exist in mountain ranges on the Moon and on Earth, but are generally considered rare in the solar system, and true examples on Mars, including Earth’s inventory, have left researchers puzzled. Meteorites from the Red Planet It has passed space To get here.

“The discovery could strengthen the idea that Mars’ early crust was much more complex than previously thought, and perhaps more similar to Earth’s original crust. Understanding the ancient Martian crust may also help unlock secrets about the evolution of Earth and how life began.”

“This seemed like the textbook definition of chasing bright, shiny things.”

The rover team named the special rock, which is about 18 inches wide and 14 inches tall, “Atco Point,” after the Grand Canyon landmark.

Perseverance has been exploring Jezero Crater, an ancient, dry delta on Mars, since 2021.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

“Seeing rocks like Atco Point is one of those hints that, yes, there is anorthosite on Mars, and this may be a sample of that lower crustal material,” Stack Morgan said. “We can then later look at this in the context of other rocks to get a sense of how the earliest Martian crust formed.”

Anorthosite is composed mainly of feldspar, a mineral associated with lava flows. Feldspar is richer in silica than basalt and is one of the last materials to crystallize from magma. Basalt, on the other hand, is a dark volcanic rock rich in iron and magnesium that is widespread on the Martian surface.

Many Perseverance scientists believe that Atco Point’s minerals may have formed in magma below the surface, and that a giant impact with Mars ripped the rocks to the surface, then fell over the crater rim to their current location. Others believe the rocks were formed far away and transported by raging ancient rivers.

The NASA team hopes to find more rocks like Atco Point in the coming months once Perseverance reaches the crater’s rim.
Credits: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

It remains to be seen whether scientists will one day discover this rock or others like it. Sample collection Since 2021, it has been orbiting Mars from Jezero Crater to the Mars Crater. The area, an ancient, dry delta region, is where scientists think microbes may have existed long ago. But plans for the complex Mars Sample Return mission, which would send rock and dust particles flying back to Earth, are in jeopardy. Rising costs have led to staff cuts and warnings of cancellation from Congress. The Mars Exploration Agency is currently developing a plan for the Mars Exploration Agency’s Mars mission. Desperate Plea We’re looking for ideas to save the mission.

Perhaps surprisingly, the rover team chose to leave Atco Point without taking a sample, despite its importance. This is because the team hopes to find many more like it in the coming months after the rover reaches the crater’s rim. Finding the sample in its original location will give scientists more context.

“We said, ‘OK, let’s keep this rock in mind,'” Stack Morgan said. “‘If we don’t find this rock somewhere around the crater rim, we might come back here.'”