NASA rover spots ‘zebra rock’ on Mars – and it is like nothing seen earlier than
NASA scientists have been left scratching their heads over a peculiar boulder on Mars that sports zebra-like stripes.
The black-and-white striped rock, unlike anything previously seen on the Red Planet, has sparked a flurry of excitement among internet users. NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover snapped a picture of the rock on the rim of a crater on September 13 using its Left Mastcam-Z camera.
The NASA Science Editorial Team revealed: “While driving across unremarkable pebbly terrain, beady-eyed team members spotted a cobble in the distance with hints of an unusual texture in low resolution Navcam images, and gave it the name ‘Freya Castle’.”
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“The team planned a multispectral observation using the Mastcam-Z camera in order to get a closer look before driving away. When these data were downlinked a couple days later, after Perseverance had already left the area, it became clear just how unusual it was.
(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech / SWNS)
The intriguing ‘Freya Castle’ measures around 20cm across and boasts a striking pattern of alternating black and white stripes. They added: “The science team thinks that this rock has a texture unlike any seen in Jezero Crater before, and perhaps all of Mars. ” While the team’s understanding of the rock’s chemical composition is limited, early interpretations suggest that igneous and/or metamorphic processes could have created its stripes.”
The NASA team claimed that Freya Castle is a standout stone that doesn’t match the local bedrock and may have barrelled down from higher ground.
They’re now looking at discovering where it came from as Perseverance ventures uphill. They said: “This possibility has us excited, and 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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