Curiosity Spies Unidentified, Metallic Object On Mars

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Curiosity Spies Unidentified, Metallic Object On Mars

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday October 9, 2012 @06:31AM from the littering-on-another-planet dept.

MrSeb writes "A few hundred million miles away on the surface of the Red Planet, Mars rover Curiosity has photographed an unidentified, shiny, metallic object. Now, before you get too excited, the most likely explanation is that bright object is part of the rover that has fallen off — or perhaps some debris from MSL Curiosity's landing on Mars, nine weeks ago. There is the distinct possibility, however, that this object is actually native to Mars, which would be far more exciting. It could be the tip of a larger object, or perhaps some kind of exotic, metallic Martian pebble (a piece of metal ore, perhaps). Close-up imagery will now be captured and analyzed, and within the next few days we should know if it's simply a piece of Curiosity — or something a whole lot more exciting."

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Wow by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 06:32 · Score: 5, Insightful

Call me a cynic, but even if the entire planet was made of solid gold, it still wouldn't make it economically feasible to go there.
A puddle of water there would be way more valuable.
1. Re:Wow by Jeng · 2012-10-09 06:40 · Score: 2
  
  The only reason we would go to Mars before we can live there is if we found life.
  
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  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
2. Re:Wow by Phics · 2012-10-09 06:41 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  If the entire planet was made of solid gold, it would make it an economic disaster to go there.
  
  --
  There are two types of people in the world; those who believe there are two types of people, and those who don't.
3. Re:Wow by interkin3tic · 2012-10-09 06:42 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  You're not a cynic, you're just bad at reading. No one's suggesting it's something worth mining today. The second sentence points out that it's probably a bit of the rover.
4. Re:Wow by xtal · 2012-10-09 06:42 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Massive gold deposits would make settlement there easier, but not for economic reasons. Gold is easily alloyed and makes a great material for all sorts of things. Like electric machinery, needed to process ore, water, ventilation, etc.
  
  --
  ..don't panic
5. Re:Wow by Jeng · 2012-10-09 06:47 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Gold is easily alloyed and makes a great material for all sorts of things.
  
  Radiation shielding.
  
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  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
6. Re:Wow by ByOhTek · 2012-10-09 07:09 · Score: 2
  
  And if it's that easy to find, thick walled non-corroding structures for holding in your wonderful, glorious, beautiful O2...
  
  --
  Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
7. Re:Wow by CubicleZombie · 2012-10-09 07:14 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I mean, look at all the gold up there, we can balance our national debt, hell we can buy the world! Everyone will be rich, no one won't have gold so how can people be poor if they have gold? (/sarcasm)
  Who needs a planet full of gold when we have the Federal Reserve?
  
  --
  :wq
8. Re:Wow by PPH · 2012-10-09 07:15 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  It has happened before: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Empire
  
  Matters began to change in the 1520s with the large-scale extraction of silver from the rich deposits of Mexico's Guanajuato region, but it was the opening of the silver mines in Mexico's Zacatecas and Bolivia's Potosi in 1546 that became legendary. During the 16th century, Spain held the equivalent of US$1.5 trillion (1990 terms) in gold and silver received from New Spain. Ultimately, however, these imports diverted investment away from other forms of industry and contributed to inflation in Spain in the last decades of the 16th century
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
9. Re:Wow by icebike · 2012-10-09 07:19 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  The only reason we would go to Mars before we can live there is if we found life.
  Or to seed life.
  Just sayin...
  Sooner or later, even if we find primitive life, we should start thinking about what can be done with the planet, even if it takes 1000 years to
  get something to live there.
  
  --
  Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
10. Re:Wow by Jeng · 2012-10-09 07:40 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Lets say we went and put a killer whale on the moon, err Mars. For how long do you think the bacteria would be able to live on the corpse?
  Do you think the bacteria would have time to evolve to be able to spread beyond the corpse before their initial food supply was depleted?
  
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  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
11. Re:Wow by osu-neko · 2012-10-09 07:47 · Score: 2
  
  If the entire planet was made of solid gold, it would make it an economic disaster to go there.
  News flash: gold is just a commodity. If the price of gold goes down, the major economic effect of this is... it gets cheaper to make things out of gold. It has no more serious economic effect than the discovery of an abundances of any other useful mineral.
  
  --
  "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
12. Re:Wow by dpilot · 2012-10-09 07:53 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  That's not part of next quarter's profits, nor within the tenure of any currently elected politician.
  Forget it.
  
  --
  The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
13. Re:Wow by skuzzlebutt · 2012-10-09 08:01 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  In honor of Columbus Day. We'll bring whisky and typhus.
  
  --
  My debut novel AMITY now available: http://jeremydbrooks.c
14. Re:Wow by Anonymous+Psychopath · 2012-10-09 08:02 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  That's not part of next quarter's profits, nor within the tenure of any currently elected politician.
  Forget it.
  Neither is the robot that found it, and yet there it is. For fuck's sake, there is such a thing as being too cynical.
  
  --
  Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
15. Re:Wow by t4ng* · 2012-10-09 08:05 · Score: 2
  
  Especially since any atmosphere created for terraforming purposes would be ripped off by solar winds in short order due to the lack of a significant magnetosphere.
16. Re:Wow by Robert+Zenz · 2012-10-09 08:07 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Well, we still have more whales, right?
17. Re:Wow by SternisheFan · 2012-10-09 08:10 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I find the 'manifest destiny' idea that we HAVE to terraform Mars a bit funny.
  To my thinking, Mars, the Moon and the asteroids that can be mined are all there just waiting for us to use eventually. It just seems to me to be almost too "pat". As if it were a 'set-up', just waiting for us life-forms to be lulled into the solar system's evil venus-fly trap!
  I don't know if I fully trust our galaxy either. :)
18. Re:Wow by geekoid · 2012-10-09 08:16 · Score: 2
  
  Then you bury it.
  
  --
  The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
19. Re:Wow by NEDHead · 2012-10-09 08:18 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Which raises an interesting question:
  What would be an optimal design for an artificial magnetic field for Mars that would provide the equivalent protection that we enjoy on Earth? Assuming superconducting cables, what location(s) would be suitable; what currents would be required; what danger zones would be created; and what would be the annual energy cost?
20. Re:Wow by lightknight · 2012-10-09 08:20 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Yes, because wanting a smaller, less leviathonic government == wanting slavery. Thanks.
  
  --
  I am John Hurt.
21. Re:Wow by Chris+Burke · 2012-10-09 08:23 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Do you think the bacteria would have time to evolve to be able to spread beyond the corpse before their initial food supply was depleted?
  Seems like they'd evolve to more efficiently eat the whale, and then be screwed when it was gone.
  
  --
  
  The enemies of Democracy are
22. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 08:45 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Much like how the people Jesus was rebelling against were those who considered themselves the most pious. If Jesus was alive today he would be against the american conservative movement, those holier than thou fucks need to pull their heads out of their ass and love thy neighbor.
23. Re:Wow by englishknnigits · 2012-10-09 08:51 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  The terms liberal and conservative are almost completely meaningless today. People think liberal is a synonym for Democrat and conservative is a synonym for Republican and misuse those terms accordingly.
  
  Arguing that the Constitution was designed to grow as needed is almost entirely unrelated to whether or not they thought we should have a small government. They certainly thought we should have a federal government that was restrained by the constitution and its amendments. The idea was to enumerate the powers of the federal government in the Constitution. If we wanted to expand those powers, we would have to amend the constitution through an intentionally difficult process where a super majority of states agree with the change. As of right now, neither Democrats nor Republicans respect limitations imposed on the federal government by the Constitution. They think "if 51% of people want it, we can do it!" which is little more than mob rule. This isn't exactly new but I do think it has steadily been getting worse.
24. Re:Wow by DMUTPeregrine · 2012-10-09 08:54 · Score: 2
  
  its worth in labor.
  
  All currency is just a way to value a certain amount of work.
  
  --
  Not a sentence!
25. Re:Wow by AAWood · 2012-10-09 09:02 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The two tasks aren't mutually exclusive. There is a logical fallacy in thinking that scientists can be taken as one entire group who should all focus research on a handful of "important things". The people with the expertise of how we could theoretically travel to other planets and make that habital environments in a millenium (30 generations?) are not, for the most part, the same people with the expertise of how best to steer society on a global scale to make best use of this planet over the next century (3 generations), and I daresay if each group focuses on their area of expertise, they'll both make advances that aid the other along the way.
26. Re:Wow by newcastlejon · 2012-10-09 09:25 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  For fuck's sake, there is such a thing as being too cynical.
  I doubt that.
  
  --
  If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
27. Re:Wow by BasilBrush · 2012-10-09 09:37 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  there is at least one model for oil/natural gas that could explain its creation based of geological processes rather then biological material breaking down
  There is at least one model for child birth that involves avian delivery.
28. Re:Wow by Robotbeat · 2012-10-09 10:35 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Actually, you're exactly correct. Investing enormous resources into digging a shiny metal out of the ground (which is mostly used for investment purposes, not for industrial uses) is a waste of resources. It's far better to use those resources and build better infrastructure than something that just sits in a vault and is never used productively. A central bank is much more efficient, also, because they can control the money supply, theoretically evening out the business cycle (though there are limits to this as we've seen recently... the rates can't really go below zero, so the ability to counter-act a huge decline in aggregate demand is limited).
  Macroeconomics and monetary policy... learn it! I mean, End the Fed! Woo, Ayn Rand! Gold!
  (and no, I'm not talking about unlimited monetary policy... MMT is not accurate. Deficits do matter, though not quite as much if your country controls its own currency... Going to a gold standard means you lose control over your country's currency and you may end up suffering the downward austerity spiral of countries like Spain who no longer control their currency... Versus the recovering Iceland, who do control their own currency in spite of an epic financial crisis.)
  (FWIW, we probably should nationalize the Fed one of these days.)
29. Re:Wow by amicusNYCL · 2012-10-09 10:50 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  That's not how evolution works. Evolution is not a response to environmental stimuli. It happens all the time, randomly, and sometimes it benefits the lifeform and other times it doesn't.
  
  --
  "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
30. Re:Wow by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2012-10-09 11:27 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I'm not an ecologist, but I suspect you'd need more than a single whale too bootstrap an ecosystem on an otherwise inhospitable planet.
  I'll see your whale and raise you a bowl of petunias. Is that enough?
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
31. Re:Wow by _4rp4n3t · 2012-10-09 11:41 · Score: 2
  
  That's only half the story though. Individual mutations that lead to more successful traits make that particular organism more likely to survive, procreate and pass on the successful trait, thus changing the species over time. So while they would specifically mutate to more efficiently eat the whale, those that mutated to be more efficient consumers ouwld survive better, and so - evolution.
32. Re:Wow by _4rp4n3t · 2012-10-09 12:12 · Score: 2
  
  Good catch on the typo - I did of course mean not specifically evolve. And I agree, those wasteful gluttons could well exhaust their natural resources early, thus prematurely ending an otherwise successful ecosystem....wait a minute!
33. Re:Wow by Nethemas+the+Great · 2012-10-09 12:45 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  If the entire planet was made of solid gold... It would cause the planet to have such a high mass as to make it impossible to attain escape velocity and return with it.
  
  --
  Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
34. Re:Wow by gmhowell · 2012-10-09 13:34 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  It would shut the Libertarians up once and for all.
  If there were enough energy in the universe to do that, we'd have trivial faster than c travel.
  
  --
  Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
35. Re:Wow by Evtim · 2012-10-09 17:09 · Score: 2
  
  "No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up."
  Lily Tomlin
36. Re:Wow by funwithBSD · 2012-10-09 18:05 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Whale Uplift: U r doing it wrong.
  
  --
  Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
37. Re:Wow by sFurbo · 2012-10-10 00:02 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Mass and the distance of the surface from the center, so a higher density would make the escape velocity higher. Mars' density is around 4, gold has a density around 20, so assuming no pressure effects and constant mass, the volume will go down by a factor of 4, so the radius will decrease by 37%. The escape velocity is proportional to the square root of the inverse of the radius, so it will go up with 60%.
  
  Assuming constant radius, the mass will go up with a factor of four, and as the escape velocity is proportional to the square root of the mass, the escape velocity will end up around Earths present escape velocity.
38. Re:Wow by rednip · 2012-10-14 11:07 · Score: 2
  
  However, that doesn't mean we can't come up with some agreed upon generalizations.
  Who's the 'we'? Do you have a mouse in your pocket? Does 'we' mean, you and the ditto heads? You and the Ayn Rand fan club? If 'we' is you and me, I'll have to warn you about the most I'm willing to generalize about the founding fathers is that they were white men of respectable backgrounds who were representatives of their states. Also, many of them were lawyers, some of them were slave owners. Otherwise they were a diverse group who fought fiercely over the role and responsibility of government (both federal and state for that matter). Hamilton's Report on Manufactures is very clear about what that founding father intended about the 'general welfare clause'.
  The wikipedia article has this under 'Opposition to the Report':
  
  Leading opponents of Alexander Hamilton's economic plan included Thomas Jefferson (until later years) and James Madison, who were opposed to the use of subsidy to industry along with most of their fledgling Democratic-Republican Party. Instead of bounties they reasoned in favor of high tariffs and restrictions on imports to increase manufacturing; which interestingly was favored by the manufacturers themselves who desired protection of their home market.[citation needed] Although the Jeffersonian stance originally favored an "agrarian" economy of farmers, this changed over time to encompass many of Hamilton's original ideas,[3] while "the Madison administration helped give rise to the first truly protectionist tariff in U.S. history."[4]
  I bring this up for two reasons, a to show more graphically just how different these founding fathers differed and to infer the idea that Jefferson was all over the map with his opinions. The man who wrote the Declaration of Independence wasn't even invited to the constitutional convention, he did not sign it nor did he participate in its first congressional session, as he was away in Paris as the minister to France and attempting to negotiate an end to various British claims (also 'hanging around' with a married woman, and later his deceased wife's slave half sister). Madison, who had also 'beat out' Jefferson for the all but the preamble of the VA constitution, was largely very quite about 'what he meant' when he wrote it, I researched it once and found only three quotes that mostly seemed to be against a broad interpretation of the 'general welfare clause'. Which might seem to be 'good news' for your cause, but as I remember it one of them basically claimed that it was 'copied over from the Articles of Confederation by accident' (not a direct quote, I'm too lazy too look, but I did once research it well) and all of them weren't statements of policies, but a few lines in private correspondence, after his two terms in the White House. Not exactly the stuff of case law and I believe that he wanted it that way. In fact several thing for which he championed were voted out, including establishment of a national university, export taxes and rules governing national elections, which of course are not exactly the ideas of a extremely limited government.
  
  Let me ask you this, if the federal government was not intended to be bound by the Constitution, then what was the point of writing it in the first place?
  Huh, I thought what we were talking about how the Constitution was interpreted, why would you ask that leading question?
  It's interesting that even after agreeing with me on much of it, you still insist on making generalities about the framers. I'll note that there were only six people who signed both documents (George Read, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, and James Wilson), which further diversified 'the founding fathers'. The people who were at the Constitutional Convention are usually referred to as 'The Framers', which (as
  
  --
  The force that blew the Big Bang continues to accelerate.
I'll bet it has writing on it that says by Jailbrekr · 2012-10-09 06:33 · Score: 4, Funny

RETURN FOR REFUND

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Feed the need: Digitaladdiction.net
1. Re:I'll bet it has writing on it that says by goombah99 · 2012-10-09 06:42 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  My Precious.
  
  --
  Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
2. Re:I'll bet it has writing on it that says by jo42 · 2012-10-09 06:44 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  You mean "Made in China"...
3. Re:I'll bet it has writing on it that says by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 06:54 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It was written in ancient Sumerian. It says:
  "Global warming is real, so we're gonna try moving to the next planet over."
  It's carbon dated 20,000 years old.
4. Re:I'll bet it has writing on it that says by JonWan · 2012-10-09 07:03 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Hello Sweetie
5. Re:I'll bet it has writing on it that says by Quiet_Desperation · 2012-10-09 07:04 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  No, no, no. Prothean.
6. Re:I'll bet it has writing on it that says by dkleinsc · 2012-10-09 07:53 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Wouldn't you be more likely to find that on Venus?
  
  --
  I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
7. Re:I'll bet it has writing on it that says by flyingsquid · 2012-10-09 07:54 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  "Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator"
8. Re:I'll bet it has writing on it that says by schlachter · 2012-10-09 09:25 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  No. We have 3 rovers on Mars. 0 on Venus.
  
  --
  My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
9. Re:I'll bet it has writing on it that says by DigiTechGuy · 2012-10-09 10:24 · Score: 2
  
  The Russians have several on Venus.
"Deliberately Buried" by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-10-09 06:33 · Score: 4, Interesting

TMA-1

--
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
I left it there. by For+a+Free+Internet · 2012-10-09 06:35 · Score: 5, Funny

Dear NASA: Would you please return it to me? I dropped it there when Iwas playing fetch with my astro-dog but since that vacation in 1982, what with the economy inthe shitter and my extreme insanity and all, Italian conspiracies, etc., etc., I had pretty much given upon retrieving it.
Please mail my battery-actuated vibrating metal thing object to:
Bob S.
445 Gimlet Road
Cornhole, OH
Thanks for bringing this find to my attention, Slashdort!

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Further proof by Burning1 · 2012-10-09 06:35 · Score: 4, Funny

Proof that many of today's scientists are from the MTV generation:
"Ooooh! Shiny thing!" :)
1. Re:Further proof by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 07:03 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Meh, you can kiss my shiny metal object.
Screw that... by Vanderhoth · 2012-10-09 06:38 · Score: 2

It looks kind of like a screw to me, but I guess we'll find out in a few days. It would be exciting if it was something more special and could maybe lead to more funding for programs like Mars One. If I wasn't married I'd volunteer for the Mars One program, but I think getting married puts me in the mentally unstable category. If it doesn't than being willing to go to Mars and live in what amounts to a large tent for the rest of my life certainly would... I guess they'll have a hard time finding qualified people.
1. Re:Screw that... by Jeng · 2012-10-09 06:44 · Score: 2
  
  Whats with the discrimination against the mentally ill?
  I mean what if I did go on a killing spree? Wouldn't it be better that I do it on Mars where I only have two or three possible victims, rather than on Earth where I may have dozens?
  Think of the greater good.
  
  --
  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
2. Re:Screw that... by pr0t0 · 2012-10-09 06:47 · Score: 2
  
  "Screws are falling out all the time; the world's an imperfect place" -- John Bender
  
  --
  I'm sorry, but your opinion seems to be wrong.
3. Re:Screw that... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 06:50 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Think of the greater good.
  The greater good.
4. Re:Screw that... by Xenkar · 2012-10-09 07:12 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Statistically, mentally ill people aren't more or less likely to attack you than a normal person unless said mentally ill person is a schizophrenic female. In which case the chance is doubled.
  The reason why we don't send mentally ill people is because we'd also have to send a supply of whatever medication they'll need to keep balanced and productive plus a psychiatrist for therapy.
  But I think a sparse Mars colony would be perfect for my socialphobia. I'd only have to get used to at most twenty people.
resembling a monolith? by CosaNostra+Pizza+Inc · 2012-10-09 06:38 · Score: 2, Funny

My God, Its full of Stars!
About time! by SlashJoel · 2012-10-09 06:38 · Score: 5, Funny

They finally found the Prothean ruin!
And so begins.. by slashmojo · 2012-10-09 06:38 · Score: 2

The Martian Goldrush of 2012 (+travel time)
If its is alien origin by na1led · 2012-10-09 06:38 · Score: 2, Insightful

Don't expect to hear anymore about this story.

--
-- By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
1. Re:If its is alien origin by geekoid · 2012-10-09 06:44 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Yes, becasue NASA wouldn't want the huge amount of money that would poor into the project to get there before anyone else, and the military sure wouldn't be interested.
  It's in the governments, the military, and NASAs best interests to find an alien artifact, you moron.
  I look forward to hearing about the as a conspiracy for the next 20 years~
  
  --
  The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
2. Re:If its is alien origin by Belial6 · 2012-10-09 07:02 · Score: 2
  
  Yeah, I'm thinking that we are now in a state of development that if an alien artifact was found on Mars, it wouldn't throw us into total chaos. It would spur us to build more tech to get there to check it out, and see what else was out there.
3. Re:If its is alien origin by cnettel · 2012-10-09 07:04 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  It's the Shadows! Stop Clark before it's too late!
4. Re:If its is alien origin by dadelbunts · 2012-10-09 07:12 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Of course they would be interested, and of course they would want a huge pile of money. None of these things have to do with you knowing about it. The military and NASA have been interested in a plethora of things that while they were interested in, they also made sure you were not. Not saying thats what they will do in this case, but they have a very good track record of keeping things hidden from the public.
My Keys!! by BenSchuarmer · 2012-10-09 06:39 · Score: 5, Funny

that's where I left them
The most likely explanation... by Odin's+Raven · 2012-10-09 06:39 · Score: 4, Funny

Pretty sure it's just Occam's Razor - Curiosity probaby knocked it off the sink after shaving this morning...

--
A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores.
So Curiosity by kiriath · 2012-10-09 06:40 · Score: 2

Has ADD
Unobtainium! by who_stole_my_kidneys · 2012-10-09 06:41 · Score: 2

I called it first so its mine!
1. Re:Unobtainium! by Sez+Zero · 2012-10-09 07:44 · Score: 2
  
  I called it first so its mine!
  Bah, it clearly is unrefined Transparent Aluminum. It doesn't get clear until it is refined.
Monolith by zmooc · 2012-10-09 06:42 · Score: 4, Funny

It's probably just the top of a boring monolith made of some blackish metal. Nothing to see here; move along.

--
0x or or snor perron?!
Shiny metal object? by mcmonkey · 2012-10-09 06:45 · Score: 5, Funny

If some tells you to bite it, don't.
It's an Illudium-Q36 explosive space modulator by Freddybear · 2012-10-09 06:48 · Score: 5, Funny

I'm expecting an earth-shattering kaboom!
1. Re:It's an Illudium-Q36 explosive space modulator by guttentag · 2012-10-09 07:58 · Score: 2
  
  I'm betting it's a light grenade with the words "pick me up" inscribed in Martian, the last remnant of a great but very stupid civilization.
Be varry varry careful by p51d007 · 2012-10-09 06:51 · Score: 4, Funny

It might be part of a uranium q-38 explosive space modulator!!!!
1. Re:Be varry varry careful by sconeu · 2012-10-09 11:18 · Score: 2
  
  Both posters should be destroyed in an Earth-shattering Kaboom.
  
  --
  General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
ChemCam image, possible set up for spectroscopy? by Chris+Burke · 2012-10-09 06:53 · Score: 5, Informative

I found this ChemCam image in the raw image archive. It does look like a jagged shaving of... something.
While this could just be because the ChemCam telescope/imager has the highest resolution of anything on the mast (and they don't want to move the arm now), it might also mean that they plan to zap the object with the laser and measure its composition.

--

The enemies of Democracy are
Late-breaking news: TREASON! by Tackhead · 2012-10-09 06:54 · Score: 4, Funny

I'll bet it has writing on it that says
RETURN FOR REFUND

Today the Council of Elders reports the exposure of a fifth column of traitors that has apparently existed within the intelligence directorate of world's security services. The Council neither confirms nor denies the contents of the following diplomatic transmission leaked to the blue world by rebellious spies.
12GLENELG0062: If it's actually the trigger for a trap door beneath the rover, for example, or the last remaining relic of the Martian race, then NASA obviously needs to handle it with care.
When a senior military official, apparently intoxicated after having submersed himself in the poisonous liquid that covers two thirds of the enemy world's surface, exclaimed "IT'S A TRAP", K'Breel had the Admiral's gelsacs bronzed and disposed of in the general vicinity of the invader. The Council reminds all citizens that the planetary metals recycling programme operates on a strict basis of "No deposit, no return."
It's a bolt, from Curiosity by Gordonjcp · 2012-10-09 06:57 · Score: 4, Funny

Which is just bloody great. Now we have to work out how to change an engine mounting from 150 million miles away.
Object Likely Benign Plastic from Curiosity Rover by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-09 06:58 · Score: 5, Informative

nasa.gov:
"Curiosity's main activity in the 62nd sol of the mission (Oct. 8, 2012) was to image a small, bright object on the ground using the Remote Micro-Imager of the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument.
The rover team's assessment is that the bright object is something from the rover, not Martian material. It appears to be a shred of plastic material, likely benign, but it has not been definitively identified.
To proceed cautiously, the team is continuing the investigation for another day before deciding whether to resume processing of the sample in the scoop. Plans include imaging of surroundings with the Mastcam."
Re:C'mon man... by hcs_$reboot · 2012-10-09 06:58 · Score: 4, Insightful

Yes, it's a (piece of a) spaceship named Curiosity. Seriously, the robot finds a metallic piece of something close to where it landed... what are the odds that part is not from Curiosity itself? (answer ~0%)

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The tip of a second statue of liberty by shurel · 2012-10-09 07:00 · Score: 2

wouldnt it be trippy
first! by Ceriel+Nosforit · 2012-10-09 07:01 · Score: 2

First alien relic!

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Gold and diamonds used to lay on the surface by HangingChad · 2012-10-09 07:01 · Score: 2

It may seem hard to believe now, but gold, silver and diamonds used to lay on the surface of the Earth. It wasn't until man got to the point we were writing things down that we started collecting the shiny things on the surface.
All I'm suggesting is it could be naturally occurring or it could be ejecta from an impact event involving an asteroid with a high metallic content.

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Don't pull it out! by wcrowe · 2012-10-09 07:16 · Score: 2

It's a platinum screw. For God's sake, don't pull it out! The whole planet will fall apart.

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Proverbs 21:19
New, annoying, alien life discovered by gestalt_n_pepper · 2012-10-09 07:25 · Score: 2

It's small, covered in metallic make-up and talks incessantly about itself. Much like several of my ex-girlfriends.

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Re:C'mon man... by tgd · 2012-10-09 07:37 · Score: 5, Interesting

Yes, it's a (piece of a) spaceship named Curiosity. Seriously, the robot finds a metallic piece of something close to where it landed... what are the odds that part is not from Curiosity itself? (answer ~0%)
Well, its not actually very close to where it landed, at this point. And they've taken quite a few photos of the rover. What'll be interesting is if it IS a part from the rover, how did they not notice it was missing? And how did it come off? Seems more likely it'd be part of the lander, but IIRC, it didn't fly off in that direction.
I think your zero estimate is far off, if you're talking about Curiosity itself. If you're talking the whole Rube Goldberg contraption that landed it there... well, that may be a fairly low odds its not.
Re:ChemCam image, possible set up for spectroscopy by sinij · 2012-10-09 07:41 · Score: 2

So for this object to remain dust free after falling of Curiosity, it must be internal component (we might have a problem with Curiosity), have some different properties than Curiosity material or dropped from the orbit (and in this case would leave a crate).

Any plausible explanation makes this very interesting find.
Monolith by wile_e_wonka · 2012-10-09 07:50 · Score: 2

This is an easy one. It's a monolith.
Re:Good thing the Cold War is over... by spire3661 · 2012-10-09 08:00 · Score: 2

SpaceX will not be pushing beyond anything NASA is doing. As of now they are a orbital delivery company, nothing more. I have mad respect for the SpaceX team, but lets keep it in perspective.

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Comment removed by account_deleted · 2012-10-09 08:12 · Score: 2

Comment removed based on user account deletion
Plot thickens... by Tim12s · 2012-10-09 08:19 · Score: 2

1. Announce it was just debris from the booster.
2. Go quite on all subsequent media on mars focusing on "curiosity" mission.
3. Announce "jupiter" mission (which is a cover story ofcourse)
4. Massive funding and spectacular research on new launch tech.
5. "crashes" into jupiter and landing failed (actually lands on mars to investigate why there is a coke can on mars)
Re:C'mon man... by cplusplus · 2012-10-09 08:57 · Score: 2

The thing had to fire several explosive bolts during the decent phase, and presumably some small chunks of debris were scattered over a very large area. My guess is that this is something related to the decent phase.

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"False hope is why we'll never run out of natural resources!" - Lewis Black
litter by Nyder · 2012-10-10 00:07 · Score: 2

Updated: NASA’s initial assessment is that the object is in fact a piece of plastic that has fallen off Curiosity. Further analysis will be performed before a final judgment is made.
We go, we explore, we litter!

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