Sudden Appearance of Martian Stone Bafflers Mars Rover Scientist

The Mars Rover began it's mission on the planet Mars back in 2004, and each day of its mission has been counted incrementally from since time as Sol 1, Sol 2, Sol 3 an[caption id="attachment_78229" align="aligncenter" width="634"] An strange rock, seen here on the left image, mysteriously appeared in front of Opportunity rover in the beginning of the month. The rover, which landed on Mars in 2004, hasn't moved in over a month as it waits for better weather on the red planet [/caption]d so forth. Currently, the Martian exploration vehicle has been idle due to inclement weather.

However, on Sol 3540, NASA scientists noticed a stone had appeared within the rover's periphery that wasn't there as early as Sol 3536. Now, the scientists are trying to determine what may have caused the stone to appear.

Doubtless, there will be those who will draw the conclusion that an extraterrestrial placed the stone in front of the rover. A more reasonable answer is that the stone had been lodged in the tracks of one of wheels and got jostled loose. Yet another scientist believes a meteor may have struck the surface nearby and this rock is part of the debris from that impact. One thing is agreed upon and that is the side of the rock now visible hasn't seen the planet's atmosphere in a long time and is in a very accessible place for rover to explore despite the weather. It will give the rover something useful to do until the weather improves.

on the web:
Mystery on Mars: Scientists baffled after rock suddenly appears out of nowhere in front of Opportunity rover
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2541383/Mystery-Mars-Rock-suddenly-appears-Opportunity-rover-leaving-scientists-baffled.html