NASA’s Curiosity rover captures unusual Mars rock, suspects Meteorite

NASA’s Curiosity rover has captured something at the surface of Mars that evidently doesn’t belong to the planet. It is not the first time that an unusual object on Mars has left the scientists exited. However, this time the rock is said to be no Martian mirage. The latest image taken by Mast Camera (Mastcam) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3706 on January 9, 2023, has left the scientists puzzled. The pictures feature an unusual little gray rock that doesn’t match the martian surface.

However, experts believe it could be a meteorite.

Surprised by the ‘unusual rock’ found on Mars, Planetary geologist Catherine O’Connell-Cooper said, “This is an unusual gray float rock which may be a remnant of material higher up Mount Sharp or may be a meteorite. We have analyzed a few meteorites over the past 10 years, but they are not so abundant that we fail to get excited at the thought of a new one.” A “float” rock is the one that comes from somewhere else.

As per the geologist, this is not the first time for NASA to detect a bizarre rock on the hot planet. Earlier, Mars has been bombarded by rocks from the space several times. In addition, NASA’s Insight lander also detected the sounds of meteoroid impacts during its mission.

The fact that, the rock doesn’t match those in the planet, it is possible that the recent discovery on Mars is a meteorite. In 2016, an iron meteorite named “Egg Rock” was found by Curiosity rover. After a brief study on the matter, NASA believed that it may have been a part of the core of an asteroid.

Now, the scientists plan to distinguish between meteorites that we experience on Earth and the effects of the exposure Martian environment toward it.

Also Read: NASA’s Webb telescope spots its first Earth-like exoplanet