Mystery Rock 'Appears' in Front of Mars Rover

I'm going to go out on a limb and say a swallow dropped it, therefore it is lighter than a coconut.

It's odd. I am a little surprised they even said anything about it. I secretly hope that some other weird things happen/show up that will truly amaze us.

All I can say .. If the best the Mars Men can do is throw a small rock at the rover... and miss.

Is we are all safe for now.


Pathetic intergalactic war. These things never live up to expectations. I built my bunker for 2012. Nothing.
Waited for the NSA to arrest me for my illegal downloads of Barry Manalow ( who is a secret member of Massad ) . Not even a letter.
Got my laser gun ready. When all I needed was a bigger rock and basic coordination.



Blah.....

reply to post by wildespace


Hey, I was thinking a tremor or quake could have been responsible for this rock moving....

Pardon my ignorance (I usually don't hang around the space forum, so my knowledge is certainly limited), but do we know if Mars has quakes and/or tremors? Do we even know if it is comprised of tectonic plates like our own planet? Or is that something that will have to be proven once we put people there to study and find out?

Again, pardon my ignorance on the subject, everyone.

~Dustbowl

dam that was a sweat to do, the camera perspective is slightly different for each image.. annoying



funBox

Can this rock/fish/clam/rock, which is now turned upside down, contain on its bottom some of the original mud of Gale Lake? This is one possibility, and the rock being on top of that spot for how many millions of years, probably ever since the lake dried up, sitting on its own little piece of mars mud. The mud, which would have soon drained itself of water, would still stick to the bottom of the rocks. Here's one of those.

My knowledge of Opportunity is limited, even though I've followed the rover missions since there first launch, in terms of what instruments it has to test, prod, or photograph this possible mud - if, indeed, I am not mistaken about the formation of what makes up the bottom of this rock. Am I? And does anyone know if further study of this object by the rover itself would be something NASA has explored?

Arken

 

More oddity!
On the solar panel one cell is missing

Hard to tell where that thing could have come from.

People here are seriously suggesting that thing is a camoflaged animal of some sort?

While its true we have such animals here on Earth, you are overlooking WHY animals do that. Its to escape larger predators. So I wouldn't think that's the case here until we confirm larger animals.

.000001% chance that's an animal. But it is very interesting at any rate. I doubt it was kicked there by the rover. I'd think you would see more signs of the ground being disturbed. Marsquake is a good idea, but where did the rock COME FROM? A wider shot would be nice. Maybe its sitting at the bottom of a hill?

Kangaruex4Ewe
therefore it is lighter than a coconut.

I would say a lot of the rock is just like that light, and brittle as well. Something else though, the scientist made the remark about the rock being flipped over accidently and showing a side that had been hidden for millenia. I would guess any new rover in the pipline, will have a facility added to do just. When you think about it, that's what people do with rocks in situ, they turn them over!

reply to post by funbox


funbox, what a wonderful job. You really are a whiz at making gifs, I've seen plenty of yours on other Mars threads now. Nice.

What it means, if anything, you at least gave a new perspective to the two photographs. NASA and JPL must have done all of this, was it days ago, I really haven't memorized when the second pic showing the rock was taken. Quite the interesting thing to happen, but just a rock flipped over by a broken wheel, imnho (I'm buying the NASA logic, that the wheel is broken and popped this thing up into the air when it turned a little - it landed pretty cleanly, didn't it, so it didn't bounce or jiggle much. Has anyone analyzed the turn and how fast it would be turning?), the correct explanation. And even though it sounds like I am of two minds, ATS should just cover the same bases NASA already has done, and funbox's very professional gif goes a long way towards that.

I'm sure there is a logical explanation for it showing up.

But it being flipped over, while a bad wheel is being dragged through a turn?

Why would almost all the smaller rocks still be in their original spots? Why are there no "drag" marks?

Just wondering.

Come on, we have those rocks here on Earth, see Sailing Stone.

Anyone else notice that the little crevice right behind the mystery rock is filled with what looks like poo?

I'm sure that's not what it is, but its interesting.

Interesting find.

Sol 3541 has better (in my opinion) photos of the rock, so I made a colour version.



In colour it looks even more interesting.

Preliminary analysis suggests that Opportunity caused the rock known as "Pinnacle Island" to become dislodged and moved to its present location. Rover wheel was very close to or in contact with the rock previously. Of note is the fact that the robotic arm was also in extremely close vicinity to the rock prior to its apparent movement.

The following picture shows "Pinnacle Island" in its previous location, prior to movement to its current location (note that the rock had been scuffed at and moved previously. See marsrover.nasa.gov...):



Source: marsrover.nasa.gov...

Here is another view from a different angle:



Source: marsrover.nasa.gov...

Then the SOL3540 image:



Source: marsrover.nasa.gov...

Since SOL3540 Opportunity has been conducting close examination of "Pinnacle Island":


Source: marsrover.nasa.gov...

Source: marsrover.nasa.gov...

The images from the Microscopic Imager are being taken from an angle furthest away from the rover. So the viewer is seeing a reverse close-in shot of "Pinnacle Island". The rock appears to have been flipped over in the process of being moved.

Note the orientation and shape of nearby stones which match those seen in above (post-movement) pictures. Of interest is the light-colored matter that has either fallen from "Pinnacle Island" or been scraped from it upon landing and falling over to reach its current position.

Thats very strange, totally reminds me of the movie appollo 18.

I wonder if they will solve what happend?

reply to post by ArMaP


Very cool. It looks metallic. Hmm.
Thanks for the color photo. That isn't poo at all. Haha


ETA: it also looks vaguely symmetrical towards the top.

grey580
Or maybe it's some Alien teens playing a prank.

Rock?!

All I see are fossils....

heehehehehehehehehehehehe

ArMaP
Interesting find.

Sol 3541 has better (in my opinion) photos of the rock, so I made a colour version.

In colour it looks even more interesting.

Thanks for this, ArMaP.

At first glance it looks like.... Mother Pearl...

Arken

ArMaP
Interesting find.

Sol 3541 has better (in my opinion) photos of the rock, so I made a colour version.

In colour it looks even more interesting.

Thanks for this, ArMaP.

At first glance it looks like.... Mother Pearl...

Oh wow! You're absolutely right! It looks like a freaking sea shell! The symmetry, concaved appearance, pearl inside. Wow!