Opportunity Rover Digs for Fossils
Sol 30 to Sol 33
The Famous "Rotelli Fossil"
One of the most famous anomalies talked about is the "Rotelli" fossil. It was found in these images and is one of the best case samples for life on Mars to date. It was called "rotelli" because of its shape, looking like rotelli pasta on Earth.
The name of this one was coined by NASA so don't shoot the messenger

Okay now that you have had your laugh (don't forget the "Blueberries" another NASA name), lets get on with it...


Some of the images containing the 'fossils' are listed below. Opportunity spent several days drilling in this area.
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NASA SOL 30
NASA SOL 33
Below I have highlighted several interesting areas as well as two drill marks.

There are many other samples that we found in these images and a few are highlighted below... a "Rotelli" and a "Turritella"....


Three very good specimens of "Turritella"....
Earth specimen for comparison

Raw Clip...

Highlighted clip

Direct Comparison

According to NASA

A close-up of the Last Chance rock after it was RAT-treated reveals a tiny spiral-like object (red arrow), likened to curved macaroni, set in a texture that itself is "mysterious". The object may be a cutting artifact of the abrasion tool or it may be a natural, intrinsic component of the rock. Among speculatiions: it is a fossilized organism, but that view is quite tentative. However, some "optimists" are already claiming to see 'nebulous' evidence of other life forms. Visit this MER fossils website for a pictorial summary of such conjectures.
NASA










My interest is in the
turritellas for this thread. 






































