By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-24 16:36:22 | Updated at 2024-09-30 17:25:17
6 days ago
NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover has spotted a strange 'zebra rock' on the red planet.
The black-and-white striped rock is unlike any rock seen on Mars before, standing out against the planet's reddish-brown surface - NASA says it could be a sign of exciting discoveries to come.
While the rover was driving across some 'unremarkable pebbly terrain,' a team of NASA scientists noticed a rock in the distance with 'hints of unusual texture,' the space agency said.
'Freya Castle' is an unusual, 'zebra-striped' rock that was recently discovered on the surface of Mars. Scientists still aren't sure exactly what it is or where it came from.
The rover snapped photos of the rock, now dubbed 'Freya Castle,' and beamed them back to Earth a couple days later.
'Since Freya Castle is a loose stone that is clearly different from the underlying bedrock, it has likely arrived here from someplace else,' NASA said.
Freya Castle measures roughly eight inches across, and early interpretations of its unique texture suggest that igneous and/or metamorphic processes could have created its stripes, NASA wrote in a statement.
Igneous processes are geological activities that are related to the melting, movement and cooling of magma and lava.
Magma is molten rock that lies below the planetary surface, while lava is molten rock that is above the earth's surface.
For a billion years, Mars was a highly volcanically active planet, which could have created the conditions necessary for the zebra rock to form.
NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover snapped photos of this strange rock while driving across some 'unremarkable pebbly terrain' (Illustration)
Metamorphic processes are changes in the composition of rocks due to high heat and pressure.
Metamorphism makes rocks denser and more compact, and can also create new minerals by rearranging mineral components or triggering reactions with fluids that enter the rocks.
About a month ago, the rover began climbing up a steep slope leading to the rim of the Jezero Crater, where it first landed in Februrary 2021. It's searching for ancient rocks that could provide insights into Mars' early history.
The rover was navigating some 'unremarkable' terrain when NASA scientists on Earth spotted the zebra-rock sticking out against the planet's dusty red surface.
Because Freya Castle is a loose stone and clearly does not match Mars' underlying bedrock, NASA experts believe it may have come from somewhere else - perhaps having rolled downhill from a source higher up.
'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,' NASA said.
This unusual rock is just the latest in a series of intriguing rocks found recently, NASA said. In the weeks since the rover arrived in the vicinity of the crater rim, the Perseverance team has found a greater variety of rocks.
In June, NASA scientists received images of an unusually light-colored boulder near the crater's Mount Washburn. And in July, the rover snapped pictures of a leopard-spotted rock that may hold clues about ancient microbial life on the red planet.
As the rover continues its ascent up the crater rim, it may discover even more unique geological features that can help scientists better understand Mars' deep history.
