Mystery white rock inexplicably appears near Nasa Mars rover

• IRENE KLOTZ Scientists are stumped as to how a rock mysteriously appeared in images taken two weeks apart by Nasa’s Mars rover Opportunity.

The rover, which landed in an area known as Meridiani Planum a decade ago, is exploring the rim of a crater for signs of past water. Another rover, Curiosity, touched down on the opposite side of the planet in 2012 for a more ambitious mission to look for past habitable environments.

For the moment, however, scientists are pondering a more immediate question. On January 8, while preparing to use its robotic arm for science investigation, Opportunity sent back a picture of its work area. Oddly, it showed a bright white rock, “about the size of a jelly doughnut”, where only barren bedrock had appeared in a picture taken two weeks earlier.

Scientists suspect the rock was flipped over by one of the rover’s wheels.

It also may have been deposited after a meteorite landed nearby. Either way, the rock, dubbed ‘Pinnacle Island’ is providing an unexpected science bonus. “Much of the rock is bright-toned, nearly white,” Nasa said in a statement on Tuesday.

“A portion is deep red in colour. Pinnacle Island may have been flipped upside-down when a wheel dislodged it, providing an unusual circumstance for examining the underside of a Martian rock.” Scientist Steve Squyres said the

centre of the rock 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”. He added, “We’re completely confused, we’re having a wonderful time, everyone on the team is arguing and fighting.

“It was a total surprise. We were like, ‘wait a second, that wasn’t there before, it can’t be right. Oh my God! It wasn’t there before!’ We were absolutely startled.”

The Opportunity rover landed on Mars on January 25 2004. – Nampa-Reuters

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.

The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.