NASA has recently found a strange object, that’s also shiny, lying on the surface of the red planet. Being a dusty, red planet, scientists are able to see everything that’s unusual from the surface, and this is their latest discovery: a shiny lump. The team that made the Curiosity rover now wants to take a look at the object and they hope they’ll find out soon what it is. They have some ideas, but they want to know for sure.
It might be a meteorite
The team thinks it might be a meteorite, due to the fact that it’s shiny. But they cannot rely only on looks; they also have to take a look at the chemistry.
The object was given a nickname “Little Colonsay” and was missed the first time it was found. Now, the scientists don’t want to let it go before having a proper look at it.
Curiosity’s role in this matter
The rover already took some pictures of it, showing the shiny coating between the dust and the rocks from the surface of Mars. The rover is equipped with 17 cameras and even a robotic arm that have some specific tools and instruments ready to be used. Its mission is to find out if Mars is habitable.
They will use other tools to try to understand the chemistry behind it. They’ll use the onboard ChemCam, which is made out of a set of tools that examine the objects really fast.
They also aim to look at some other interesting specimens, too. There’s one small piece, too, that’s called “Flanders moss”, which comes with a dark colored coating. They also want to find more about its chemistry.
Frances might be just at the beginning of her career, but after attending a technical school, she has a fresh perspective on today’s technology. She contributes to the site with tech news.
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