This Might Be the Weirdest Rock Ever Found on Mars

Perseverance has seen a batch of groundbreaking things since it landed connected Mars successful February 2021, and present we tin adhd 1 much find to the list: a truly weird rock.

On September 13, NASA’s rover continued its travel done the Jezero Crater, a portion thought to person erstwhile been filled with water. As it dilatory made its mode done a flat, pebbly agelong of ground, its cameras spotted the unusual rock. The chromatic is decidedly a standout, with its achromatic colour contrasting sharply with Mars’ reddish dirt. What makes it adjacent odder are the achromatic stripes that screen overmuch of its surface.

The NASA Perseverance squad nicknamed the stone Freya Castle, aft the celebrated acme successful the Grand Canyon. Earth’s Freya Castle, however, is acold larger than the 1 connected Mars. The Freya Castle successful Arizona measures 3,400 feet (1,000 meters) successful height, portion its Martian brethren is simply a specified 8 inches (20 centimeters) across. Some radical online gave it the much evident nickname “zebra rock,” arsenic NASA pointed out.

On Threads, radical started tossing astir theories. One person said the stone appeared to person undergone metamorphism, wherever precocious vigor and unit tin alteration 1 benignant of stone into another. As it turns out, that mentation mightiness really beryllium correct. In a statement, NASA acknowledged that its cognition of the rock’s creation is “limited,” but it appears the rock’s striking signifier could beryllium igneous and/or metamorphic successful origin.

As Freya Castle is wholly antithetic from the surrounding bedrock, NASA said it astir decidedly got determination by rolling downhill. Luckily, Perseverance is dilatory climbing the crater rim, truthful uncovering other, akin stones is simply a possibility.

Unfortunately, it’s improbable the zebra stone volition ever beryllium brought backmost to Earth for analysis. While NASA inactive hopes to 1 time cod Perseverance’s collected stone and ungraded samples, the zebra stone is excessively large for the robot to lug around. The Mars Sample Return ngo has tally into logistical problems. In April, NASA asked for assistance successful revising the ngo plan arsenic the costs and complexity were deemed excessively high.

An oddly patterned, zebra-like stone whitethorn not dependable similar overmuch to get excited about, particularly fixed the magnitude of erstwhile images Perseverance has sent backmost to Earth. In July, for instance, the rover recovered a rock patterned aft a antithetic African animal. The “leopard spots” successful the stone could beryllium grounds of microbial beingness astatine immoderate constituent successful Mars’ past. The zebra stone whitethorn airy compared to imaginable aliens, but it’s inactive beauteous capable to make its ain fan art. Guess you could accidental Freya Castle has go a existent stone star.