Mystery Particles On Mars

So now that we know that on this image:



what we see is not a part of the rover (confirmed by NASA)

and area is full of these white objects (img.gawkerassets.com...), what do you think it can be?

btw; there will be teleconference at www.ustream.tv... with the latest news. 12 p.m. PDT (3 p.m. EDT) on Thursday, Oct. 18


sources:
www.space.com...
www.gizmodo.com.au...
www.universetoday.com...
abcnews.go.com...

bits of those satellites/rovers sent to Mars that 'disapired' on their way to Mars? With such a thin atmosphere, they would not burn up, but perhaps should have made a crater on touchdown?

Where is the NASA confirmation? the caption for this image still says that it's considered to be debris from the rover..

www.space.com...

This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows a small bright object on the ground beside the rover at the "Rocknest" site. The object is just below the center of this image. It is about half an inch (1.3 centimeters) long. The rover team has assessed this object as debris from the spacecraft, possibly from the events of landing on Mars. The image was taken during the mission's 65th Martian day, or sol (Oct. 11, 2012).

Any sources? .. it could be that they just didn't update the caption.. it would just be nice to have a link going along with the comment that NASA confirmed it isn't debris =)

Edit: I found an article that goes along with NASA confirming it's not debris ( at least not from the rover ).. for anyone curious..

CBS News:

www.cbsnews.com...

It also goes into a bit more detail about the particles...

Originally posted by martinkb

what do you think it can be?

Proof that Martians are litterbugs, too?

Damn, and I had such high hopes!

Looks like torn plastic.

I believe this is the confirmation :

A clod of soil near the top center of the image contains a light-toned particle. The observation that the particle is embedded in the clod led scientists to assess this particle as Martian material, not something from the spacecraft.

Source

This is getting more and more interesting...

reply to post by miniatus


I added sources to the original post... thanks.

lol
looks like somebody was eating Ritz crackers

reply to post by miniatus


www.businessinsider.com...

They saw that a light-toned particle was embedded in a clump of Martian soil, leading researchers to believe that the material could be native to Mars. This find completely overturned their original argument: These mystery particles are not something from the rover.

They have now taken a 3rd scoop for analysis because they believe it could be material native to Mars.

it's live now:
www.ustream.tv...

I think you have mis-understood.

The picture in the OP is of a piece from the rover.

It is this picture that is of something native to Mars. Interesting none the less.

So it's good to point out that NASA is stating that the thing that looks like plastic in your first image is NOT what is being questioned here... that IS part of the rover or the landing process ( sky crane ).. the white granular in the second is what NASA is saying isn't part of the rover and is probably native to mars.

I like his second theory .. that when they were scooping, they may have sheared something in half which makes it look lighter since it has no dust covering and is a smooth surface to reflect the light.

Either way.. they got data on the material now, just needs to be analyzed..

The reason they didn't keep the first sample and analyze it is because if it were man made then that could contaminate the equipment essentially.. they only want native martian materials to go into the equipment.

The original piece is still deemed to be 'out of' the rover, as Min' says. The rest of the given link deals with other stuff deemed to be Martian. Going back to the original piece, on clearer pics there is very faint markings in a red shade, it could be writing or a pattern, and all around the edges you can see that the material has been stressed in much the same way as a piece of polythene would be when stretched and torn.

Looks like a candy wrapper. Martians gearing up for Halloween?

I think it's evidence that even after millions of years plastic carrier bags still do not break down fully!!

We need to learn from this and return to paper bags!!

Hmmm maybe weird martian condoms...lol they practice safe sex but not clean living lol.

Originally posted by SolidGoal
I believe this is the confirmation :

A clod of soil near the top center of the image contains a light-toned particle. The observation that the particle is embedded in the clod led scientists to assess this particle as Martian material, not something from the spacecraft.

Source

This is getting more and more interesting...

edit on 18-10-2012 by SolidGoal because: (no reason given)

My goodness - these are two different objects/situations! The image in the OP was said by NASA to be a debris from the spacecraft.

The post that I quoted mentioned other shiny things they are finding in the soil scoop and around the area. Two different things are going on.

Originally posted by martinkb
and area is full of these white objects (img.gawkerassets.com...), what do you think it can be?

My guess is that it's a little chunk of salt left over after the water dried up. It would tend to cluster together into chunks as it dried, and be covered up later by eons of dust storms. Only a guess.

What I find interesting in that 'scoop' picture is those little balls of Martian dirt which look as though they are easily broken down, and that they are a small layer on top. I'm thinking that these are formed by being driven by a moist wind, enough at least to make the dirt aggregate together into the little balls as they are driven along, a bit like rolling a snowball, but not moist enough to make the balls into a solid substance, and easily broken if you stood on them. That if true, sort of begs another question, since they are fairly uniform in size where they sit, is that the termination point of the wind, or is it at the point where the wind no longer would be an influence on the balls as they would be 'too heavy' in relative terms, for the wind force, Mars is a strange place, it only looks a bit like Earth.

reply to post by impaired

Yeah I realized that after listening to the live stream, and reading Miniatus posts.
Sorry about that.
Still interesting nonetheless.