Mars Rover Finds Mysterious Rocks and More Signs of Water

[papau]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/19/science/19mars.html

Mars Rover Finds Mysterious Rocks and More Signs of Water
By KENNETH CHANG

With one Mars rover climbing into the hills and the other descending deep into a crater, scientists yesterday reported the discovery of several mysterious rock structures along with yet more signs that Mars was once awash in water. <snip>

<snip>Below the rippled layer (action of the flow of liquid water across the surface), the appearance of the rocks changed markedly, even though the composition remained similar - evidence of different conditions further into the planet's past.

The Opportunity has found within Endurance the same spherical pebbles, nicknamed blueberries, that it has seen previously. But deep in the crater, the rover also found other, more reddish pebbles. "They're not at all like the berries," said Zoe Lerner, a graduate student at Cornell University who is working on the science team.

Up close, the reddish pebbles looked rough and varied widely in size and shape. More strangely, the scientists also saw pebbles that looked like blueberries coated with the coarse, reddish material. "We're not really sure what is going on here," Ms. Lerner said.

Another geological mystery is a rock, about three feet wide, that is "one of the strangest looking rocks we have seen on the surface of Mars," Dr. Squyres said. "It's sort of lumpy. It's sort of rounded. It doesn't look like anything we've seen anywhere."

The scientists hope they can solve that mystery when the Opportunity passes by the rock on its way out of Endurance crater.

[Parche]

1. mars

I just hope they dont find oil, Dickhead cheney would be foaming at the mouth

[phantom power]

2. "blueberries coated with coarse, reddish material"

Crunchberries?

[jpak]

3. Blueberries inside Popcorn

Too freakin' cool!