Mysterious 'ball' on Mars: Where did it come from?
NASA says that a remarkably spherical rock spotted by the Curiosity Mars rover is a sign that the Red Planet harbored water in its ancient past.
NASA says that a remarkably spherical rock spotted by the Curiosity Mars rover is a sign that the Red Planet harbored water in its ancient past.
It seems too round to be true 鈥� the Curiosity rover has found a ball-shaped object among the craggy rocks in its picture. This image was taken on Sol 746 of the rover鈥檚 mission on Mars, which so far has extended over two Earth years.
No, it鈥檚 not the leftover of a Martian baseball game and nor is it aliens. In fact, according to聽Discovery News聽(who is quoting NASA) it鈥檚 a kind of rock that shows evidence of water in the ancient past.聽
Ian O鈥橬eill writes:
Curiosity is聽now at the base of Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons)聽鈥� its main science goal 鈥� and scientists are hoping to find more signs of habitable environments as the rover slowly prepares for the climb up the slope. Mission managers will need to be careful as the聽rover has battered wheels聽from rougher terrain than expected.
The rover already has found other evidence of water in its landing site of Gale Crater, such as this聽ancient lakebed that could have supported life.
Elizabeth Howell聽is the senior writer at Universe Today. She also works for Space.com, Space Exploration Network, the NASA Lunar Science Institute, NASA Astrobiology Magazine and LiveScience, among others. Career highlights include watching three shuttle launches, and going on a two-week simulated Mars expedition in rural Utah. You can follow her on Twitter@howellspace聽or contact her at聽her website. Follow聽Elizabeth Howell on Google+.
Originally posted on Universe Today.