More Details About Mars Mystery Rock

First time accepted submitter GPS Pilot writes "Previous reports said the rock that suddenly appeared out of nowhere was merely 'the size of a jelly doughnut.' Now, a color image shows additional reasons for this metaphor: 'It's white around the outside, in the middle there's kind of a low spot that's dark red,' said lead scientist Steve Squyres. In the image, the object does stick out like a sore thumb amidst the surrounding orange rocks and soil. Its composition is 'like nothing we've ever seen before. It's very high in sulfur, it's very high in magnesium, it's got twice as much manganese as we've ever seen in anything on Mars.'"

Comments

It's Aliens!

[Anonymous Coward]

.... See subject. I think the evidence speaks for itself.

Re:It's Aliens!

[sqorbit]

Since it was a rock that must have been thrown in front of the camera it has to be alien bigfoot. Bigfoot is known for throwing rocks.

Re:It's Aliens!

[icebike]

The experts think the rock was "Tiddleywinked" by the rover's own wheels while turning or maneuvering on the ground.

One possible location where it might have come from is also pretty obvious when you get wider field photographs than the sensational press like so publish.

For instance, Compare this is a wider field shot of the ares BEFORE the appearance:

Pic 1: http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/3528/1P441385599EFFCADPP2385R1M1.JPG

To a wider shot of the area AFTER the appearance.

Pic 2: http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/3540/1P442453328EFFCAEFP2594R1M1.JPG

Notice that scuff mark in the lower left corner of the Pic 2, and find the same location in
Pic 1. (Its diagonally down and to the right of the "bald eagle head shot" in Pic 1.)

A little trench has been exposed, dirt turned over and some material is missing. A rock is clearly missing from this hole.
Could the rock have been un-Marsed from this hole by a wheel, and thrown that far, landing it upside down such that we see an un-weathered surface? Not saying for sure this is where it came from, (hole looks a little small), but a simple widefield view will probably reveal similar candidate sources.

I Hope JPL holds off on releasing any new imagery until the conspiracy nut jobs work their way into a screaming lather. The deflation is so much more fun that way,

Re:It's Aliens!

[icebike]

By the way, to get a better size perspective of the rock, check out this show from the front Hazcam:

http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/f/3540/1F442454318EFFCAEOP1214L0M1.JPG

You can easily see that this object could have been tossed by the wheels when you see the size comparison to the wheels.

Re:It's Aliens!

[Hatta]

It's obviously the Illudium Q-36 space modulator.

Re:It's Aliens!

[Sardaukar86]

One of the linked articles suggests they have analized the make up of the rock

Typical Humans. Landed less than five minutes ago and already we're molesting the locals.

NASA says Mars' wind can't move rocks

[GPS Pilot]

The wind on Mars is not "strong" enough to move rocks on the surface. Even though winds on Mars can probably reach large speeds, the atmospheric density is so low, that the force the wind can impose on a rock is quite small. For instance, a wind of 10 meters per second (about 20 miles per hour) here on Earth produces a force which is four times stronger than does a 50 meter per second wind (a bit more than 100 miles per hour) on the surface of Mars. So, since a 20 mile per hour wind here on Earth does not generally move rocks about on the surface (though it does raise dust), the winds on Mars don't move rocks on the surface either.

Jim Murphy
Mars Pathfinder ASI/MET Science Team

Source: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/ask/atmosphere/Feel_of_Wind_on_Mars.txt

Re: Storms

[Namarrgon]

The Martian atmosphere is about 0.6kPa, compared to Earth's 101kPa. It's just not dense enough to move anything more substantial than dust.

Re:Fuel for the improbability drive

[camperdave]

The Horta, from the episode 26, Devil in the Dark. Now, where are my 600 quatloos?

Re:Occam's

[cusco]

Link directly to the image.

And to the forum thread.
 

Re:Moving rock

[Zordak]

No, it's their cousin species, the Weeping Jelly Doughnuts, who are much less of a menace to the universe. Instead of zapping you back in time 80 years and feeding on your residual potential, they zap you back in time to last Tuesday, where you eagerly devour an unwitting jelly doughnut that will now never get a chance to zap you back in time to last Tuesday, thus creating a paradox and canceling its own existence. There's a reason they're all but extinct.

Re:Fuel for the improbability drive

[icebike]

Not to mention the Warp Drive, the least reliable propulsion system in history, and the nut job that compensated for that by adding a holo deck.

Comparison

[RdeCourtney]

I've done a very quick animated gif: https://imgflip.com/gif/69vpc If you see the circled area, that looks like the area the rock has come from, probably flicked there by the front wheels?

It was a janitor

[itamblyn]

The whole thing is being shot in a Hollywood studio. A night janitor was goofing around with the set and didn't put things back properly. Happens all the time.