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NASA’s Perseverance rover has actually found a cool “zebra rock” on Mars ‘Jezero crater that’s absolutely nothing like any rock seen on the Red Planet before.
The rover recorded pictures of the black-and-white striped rock previously this month utilizing a video camera installed high up on its mast. NASA researchers obtained the images Sept. 13, after Perseverance had actually currently left the location, according to a declaration
The rock, which researchers called “Freya Castle,” has a never-before-seen texture. “Our knowledge of its chemical composition is limited, but early interpretations are that igneous and/or metamorphic processes could have created its stripes,” NASA agents composed in the declaration.
Igneous procedures are those associated to the condensation of lava, while metamorphic procedures are modifications in the structure of rocks due to high heat and pressure.
Freya Castle determines approximately 8 inches (20 centimeters) throughout. The zebra rock is loose and various from the underlying bedrock, recommending it stemmed from elsewhere, according to the declaration.
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One possibility is that the rock might have rolled down from further up the crater. “This possibility has us excited,” NASA agents stated. “We hope that as we continue to drive uphill, Perseverance will encounter an outcrop of this new rock type so that more detailed measurements can be acquired.”
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Determination is presently climbing up the high slopes of the Jezero crater, where it Touched down in February 2021. It has actually been almost a month because the rover started its climb. Development was sluggish to begin with, however in current days, the rover has actually travelled along flatter stretches of surface, according to the declaration.
Determination has actually finished 4 science projects up until now on Mars, and the crater climb is the start of a 5th called the Crater Rim Campaign. The rover is on the hunt for indications of ancient life and ideas about the early history of the Red Planet. It has actually currently made possibly cutting-edge discoveries, consisting of ancient lake sediments that might consist of microbial fossils
Freya Castle is among a number of interesting rocks found by Perseverance on the Jezero crater. In June, NASA got images revealing an abnormally light-colored stone near the crater’s Mount Washburn, and in July, the company got pictures of a leopard-spotted rock holding alluring ideas about ancient life on Mars.
Researchers hope the zebra rock will be among numerous discoveries throughout the rover’s 5th objective. “As we start the Crater Rim Campaign, our rover is in excellent condition, and the team is raring to see what’s on the roof of this place,” Art Thompson, the Perseverance task supervisor at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, stated in an earlier declaration Aug. 14.
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