Tisdale 2 Rock Formation on Mars
Explanation:
What does this Martian rock have so much zinc?
Roughly the size and shape of a
tilted coffee-table, this
oddly flat, light-topped rock outcropping was chanced upon a few weeks ago by the
robotic Opportunity rover currently
rolling across Mars.
Early last month Opportunity reached
Endeavour crater, the largest surface feature it has
ever encountered, and is now exploring Endeavour's rim for clues about how
wet Mars
was billions of years ago.
Pictured above and
named
Tisdale 2, the unusual rock structure was probed by
Opportunity last week and is now thought to be a remnant
thrown off during the impact that created nearby
Odyssey crater.
The resulting chemical analysis of
Tisdale 2, however,
has shown it to have a
strangely high amount of the element
zinc.
The reason for this is currently unknown, but might turn out to be a clue to the
history of the entire region.
Opportunity is already finding rocks older than any previously studied and will
continue to explore several other
intriguing rock formations
only now
glimpsed from a distance.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
