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NASA ’s PerseveranceMars roverhas amount across several strange rocks that do n’t seem to be in their original place .
Perseverance is currently search for signs of ancient life history in the hills and rocky rock outcrop along the flange of the Jezero Crater — a bleak , bowl - determine depression north of the Martian equator that scientists suspectheld a huge lakebillions of years ago . Since December 2024 , the roamer has been trekking down a tall side called Witch Hazel Hill , which scientists hope will bring home the bacon clue aboutMars ' retiring clime .
NASA’s Perseverance rover found an unusual dark, pitted rock dubbed Skull Hill while exploring Jezero Crater’s rim. The rock contrasts with lighter surrounding terrain and was likely transported from elsewhere, scientists say.
On April 11 , Perseverance paused at a visually discrete geological boundary where light and dark rock outcrops meet . Here , one particular careen , which scientists dub " Skull Hill , " stood out against the smother easy - toned , rock - riddle surface due to its dark color , angular shape and pit texture , harmonize to aNASA web log place .
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The region , called Port Anson , contains several such rocks that may have been transport from elsewhere , scientists sound out . Known as " floats , " these informal rocks in all probability traveled huge distances billion of year ago when Mars possess a quick , wetter environment with river , lake and potentially even oceans . As the piss receded and softer skirt stuff eat away over eons , the more resilient Rock remained perched on the Martian soil .
" We ’ve found a few of these dark - toned float in the Port Anson region , " the post note . " The team is working to better understand where these rocks come from and how they got here . "
The mystery of Skull Hill
According to the post , the pit on Skull Hill may have formed in a match of ways . Small pieces within Skull Hill itself might have become wanton and eroded forth , leaving the holes . Another possibility is that Martian winds , carrying tiny dust and rock particle , could have acted like sandpaper , slow wearing away the John Rock ’s surface and creating the pits .
The dark-skinned feel of Skull Hill and similar rock could indicate they are meteorite , but late analysis of their chemical substance data from Perseverance ’s SuperCam pawn indicates their authorship does n’t match that of a typical meteorite .
instead , these dark stone could have a volcanic origin . On both Earth andMars , minerals like olivine , pyroxene and biotite are known to give fiery rocks their benighted color . If these rocks are indeed fiery , they might have amount from nearby volcanic rock formations that have eroded away , or they could have been blasted out of the ground by an shock crater that excavated deeper volcanic layers .
" Luckily for us , the bird of passage has instruments that can measure the chemic composition of rocks on Mars , " accord to the position . " understand the composition of these darker - toned float will help the team to translate the descent of this alone careen . "
In the past few month , Perseverance has collected samples of five rocks , analyse seven others in detail and zapped 83 more with its laser for remote study — the robotlike explorer ’s fastest pace of scientific information collection since landing on Mars four years ago , illustration of NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) enunciate in anotherstatement .
delegation scientist note that it often hire month of search the volcanic crater to get hold a scientifically unequalled rock worth sampling . On the crater flange , however , Perseverance is encountering new and intriguing rocks at every bend , according to the statement .
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" Crater rims — you got ta love ' em,“Katie Morgan , Perseverance ’s project scientist at JPL , order in the statement . " The last four months have been a whirlwind for the scientific discipline squad , and we still feel that Witch Hazel Hill has more to tell us — it has been all we had hop for and more . "
scientist are keen to get the samples Perseverance has collected back to Earth to determineif aliveness ever existed on Mars . However , NASA ’s Mars Sample Return mission is face significant challenges with budget , timelines and proficient complexities , leave its next uncertain .
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