Probe discovers mysterious rock on Mars

According to an announcement on January 23 by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the small round rock was discovered from photos taken on January 8 by the Opportunity rover.

(Source: nytimes.com)

The stone has a red transparent core and a white exterior.

NASA experts said the red color of the rock is an unusually deep red, different from the red color of rocks and soil found on the surface of Mars.

Explaining the unusual color of the rock, Steve Squyres, an expert in the Mars exploration program, said that the red soil belongs to the underground layer and has not been exposed to the Martian atmosphere for billions of years. According to scientists, this piece of rock was pushed up from the ground by the impact of the Opportunity rover's movement.

Microscopic examination revealed that the object was a type of rock that does not exist on Earth. Scientists named it "Pinnacle Island." Analysis from Opportunity's spectrometer revealed an unprecedented composition of the rock, rich in sulfur and highly concentrated in manganese and magnesium.

Squyres said this will be a long-term project and scientists are conducting detailed measurements of the chemical composition. The expedition team plans to search the area where the stone originated.

In addition to discovering the strange object, NASA's announcement on the same day also said that the Opportunity rover had discovered additional evidence that fresh water once existed on the Red Planet, reinforcing the previous discovery of its brother Curiosity.

Exploration and analysis of water-bearing rocks in the Endeavour Crater area have found white clay formed from water with a neutral pH, similar in properties to drinking water.

The new discovery has further strengthened scientists' hypothesis about the history of the Red Planet, according to which most of the activities related to life on Mars were concentrated in the first billion years.

During this time, the Red Planet was warmer and had fresh water on its surface. Gradually, this water became dry and acidic, and starting about 3 billion years ago, Mars became dry.

Opportunity has been on Mars for 10 years, although it was only designed for a 90-day mission on the Red Planet. Its mission has been extended several times as it continues to discover new things on Mars. Opportunity is scheduled to continue south to find more evidence for analysis./.

According to VNA