Bizarre ‘zebra rock’ on Mars is not like something seen earlier than on Crimson Planet, NASA says

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NASA’s Perseverance rover has noticed a cool “zebra rock” on Mars’ Jezero crater that is nothing like several rock seen on the Crimson Planet earlier than.

The rover captured photos of the black-and-white striped rock earlier this month utilizing a digicam mounted excessive on its mast. NASA scientists acquired the photographs Sept. 13, after Perseverance had already left the realm, in keeping with a statement.

The rock, which scientists dubbed “Freya Fortress,” has a never-before-seen texture. “Our information of its chemical composition is restricted, however early interpretations are that igneous and/or metamorphic processes might have created its stripes,” NASA representatives wrote within the assertion.

Igneous processes are these associated to the crystallization of magma, whereas metamorphic processes are adjustments within the composition of rocks resulting from excessive warmth and strain.

Freya Fortress measures roughly 8 inches (20 centimeters) throughout. The zebra rock is free and completely different from the underlying bedrock, suggesting it originated from some other place, in keeping with the assertion.

Associated: ‘Martian dog’ and dozens of other mysterious blobs found hiding under Mars’ north pole in new ‘gravity map’

One risk is that the rock could have rolled down from farther up the crater. “This risk has us excited,” NASA representatives stated. “We hope that as we proceed to drive uphill, Perseverance will encounter an outcrop of this new rock sort in order that extra detailed measurements will be acquired.”

Perseverance is presently climbing the steep slopes of the Jezero crater, the place it first touched down in February 2021. It has been practically a month for the reason that rover started its ascent. Progress was gradual to start out with, however in current days, the rover has cruised alongside flatter stretches of terrain, in keeping with the assertion.

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Perseverance has accomplished 4 science campaigns up to now on Mars, and the crater ascent is the beginning of a fifth known as the Crater Rim Marketing campaign. The rover is on the hunt for indicators of historical life and clues concerning the early historical past of the Crimson Planet. It has already made doubtlessly groundbreaking discoveries, together with ancient lake sediments that could contain microbial fossils.

Freya Fortress is considered one of a number of intriguing rocks noticed by Perseverance on the Jezero crater. In June, NASA acquired photos displaying an unusually light-colored boulder close to the crater’s Mount Washburn, and in July, the company acquired pictures of a leopard-spotted rock holding tantalizing clues about historical life on Mars.

Scientists hope the zebra rock will probably be considered one of many discoveries throughout the rover’s fifth mission. “As we begin the Crater Rim Marketing campaign, our rover is in wonderful situation, and the workforce is raring to see what’s on the roof of this place,” Artwork Thompson, the Perseverance challenge supervisor at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, stated in an earlier statement Aug. 14.