Events
The Curiosity rover has found a new mysterious object on the Red Planet that looks something like a flower that scientists can't yet explain.
The space agency said that the structure in the shape of pearl-colored petals, photographed by the rover on December 19, 2012 on day 132 on Mars, is unlikely to indicate that it is on Mars flowers are growing.
The hype around the mysterious find began when one of the largest forums, Above Top Secret, discussing conspiracy topics, appeared a picture from Mars of an unusual object that looked like a flower. One user described it this way:
“This is an amazing, completely unusual semi-transparent object on the surface of Mars. The albedo (reflectivity of sunlight) of this object is a very high, transparent appearance, its irregular structure and texture looks smooth, and it is anchored in the ground.”
A few months ago, in October 2012, the rover discovered a bright object in the sand on the Red Planet, which turned out to be a piece of plastic from the rover itself. Later, a brilliant particle of unknown origin was also found on the planet.
This time, according to NASA, the material is likely to be of Martian origin.
NASA spokesman Guy Webster said initial analysis confirmed that the object was part of the rock and not something that fell on top of it, meaning it wasn't debris from space ship.
Curiosity rover latest photos
NASA recently released a new photo of the Yellowknife Bay panorama in Gale Crater, where the Curiosity rover is now located and where the first drilling will take place breeds.
A winding rock formation at the bottom in the center named “Snake River” in Yellowknife Bay. December 20, 2012
The Curiosity rover spent Christmas and New Year at a place called Grandma's Home, a previously unexplored part of Yellowknife Bay.
The rover has spent five months on Mars since landing on August 6, 2012 in Gale Crater. So far, the rover has traveled 702 meters and taken about 36,000 photos.