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Image via NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.
This little object got the attention of scientists from Mars Curiosity missions last week. NASA scientists say they are finally able to find out what the strange fragment is.
Images captured on Monday (August 13, 2018) by the Curiosity Rover camera show an object that may look like masking tape or a piece of peeling paint. . Scientists initially speculated that the mysterious part they called Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris was a piece of spacecraft remains, or part of Curiosity itself. But now they have determined that it is of natural origin.
It was analyzed by Curiosity & # 39; s ChemCam, an instrument that uses a laser and spectrometer. The results showed that the object is a very thin flake of rock. "False alarm", said the mission team, which had initially found an interesting object on the surface of Mars.
Although it appears that this object is not related to the search for past or present life on Mars, Curiosity has recently made important discoveries. For example, the rover found evidence on the rocks of Mars, suggesting that the neighboring planet would have supported the old life. The data of the robbers reveal a water lake in Gale Crater that contains all the ingredients needed for life, including chemical building blocks and energy sources.
Curiosity also takes into account the atmosphere of Mars to follow the current dust storm on Mars, which is now weakening. The plutonium-powered rover has researched the surface of Mars since August 2012.
Bottom line: A strange-looking object photographed by the Mars Curiosity rover has turned out to be a piece of rock.
Read more NASA Curiosity Mission updates
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