NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover has discovered a strange ‘zebra rock’ on the Red Planet.
The black-and-white striped rock is unlike any other ever seen on Mars. It stands out against the reddish-brown surface of the planet. According to NASA, this could be a sign of exciting discoveries to come.
As the rover drove over “nondescript pebbly terrain,” a team of NASA scientists spotted a rock in the distance with “hints of an unusual texture,” the space agency said.
‘Freya Castle’ is an unusual, ‘zebra-striped’ rock recently discovered on the surface of Mars. Scientists are still not sure what it is or where it came from.
The rover took pictures of the rock, now dubbed “Freya Castle,” and sent them back to Earth a few days later.
“Because Freya Castle is a loose rock that is clearly different from the underlying bedrock, it likely came here from another location,” NASA said.
Freya Castle is about eight inches wide, and early interpretations of its unique texture suggest that igneous and/or metamorphic processes may have created the streaks, NASA wrote in a proposition.
Igneous processes are geological activities associated with the melting, movement, and cooling of magma and lava.
Magma is molten rock that exists beneath the Earth’s surface, while lava is molten rock that exists above the Earth’s surface.
For a billion years, Mars was a planet with high volcanic activity. This may have created the conditions necessary for the formation of the zebra rock.
NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover snapped photos of this strange rock while driving over ‘nondescript pebbly terrain’ (illustration)
Metamorphic processes are changes in the composition of rocks due to high temperatures and pressure.
Metamorphism causes rocks to become denser and more compact. New minerals can also be formed by the rearrangement of mineral components or by reactions with fluids that enter the rocks.
About a month ago, the rover began climbing a steep slope leading to the rim of Jezero Crater, where it first landed in February 2021. The rover is searching for ancient rocks that could provide insight into the early history of Mars.
The rover was in “inconspicuous” terrain when NASA scientists on Earth spotted the zebra rock sticking out against the planet’s dusty red surface.
Because Freya Castle is a loose rock that clearly does not match the underlying Martian bedrock, NASA experts believe it must have come from somewhere else. Perhaps it rolled down from a higher source.
“We are excited by this possibility, and we hope that as Perseverance continues its ascent, it will encounter a rock formation of this new type so we can make more detailed measurements,” NASA said.
This unusual rock is just the latest in a series of intriguing rocks recently found, NASA said. In the weeks since the rover arrived near the crater rim, the Perseverance team has found a wider variety of rocks.
In June, NASA scientists obtained images of an unusually light-colored boulder near Mount Washburn in the crater. And in July, the rover captured images of a leopard-spotted rock that may hold clues to ancient microbial life on the Red Planet.
As the rover climbs further up the crater rim, it may discover even more unique geological features that could help scientists better understand the deep history of Mars.