[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Discovers A Potential Meteorite

From: j.divelbiss_at_att.net <j.divelbiss_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jan 14 22:00:03 2005
Message-ID: <011520050259.10697.41E88728000D4EBE000029C921602806519C9C070D040A90070BD206_at_att.net>

Thanx Jeff for the comparison.

If your first pic is the fragment on Mars...then it sure looks like a piece of an iron asteroid to me.

John




-------------- Original message from Jeff Grossman <jgrossman_at_usgs.gov>: --------------


> I don't know if this thing is a real meteorite, but check out these two
> images. I think they are about the same size, both found in cold deserts.
>
> Heat Shield Rock, Mars:
> http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/p/346/1P158910593EFF40DPP2593L7M1.J
> PG
>
> Derrick Peak Iron, Antarctica:
> http://www.racine.ra.it/planet/testi/Foto/dpeak.htm
>
> Incredibly similar.
>
> Jeff
>
> At 04:24 PM 1/14/2005, Ron Baalke wrote:
>
>
> >http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6883
> >
> >Mars rover discovers a potential meteorite
> >Kelly Young
> >New Scientist
> >January 14, 2005
> >
> >NASA's rover Opportunity has spotted an unusual rock on Mars that may be
> >a meteorite.
> >
> >The rover first glimpsed the rock two weeks ago as it approached the
> >remains of its heat shield, which plummeted to Mars during the rover's
> >descent through the atmosphere in January 2004.
> >
> >The object, about the size of a potato, caught the eyes of ground
> >controllers because of its unusual pitted surface. "We've been seeing
> >little rocks on the plain since the start of the mission," says Steven
> >Squyres at Cornell University, the Mars rovers' chief scientist. "We all
> >just kind of assumed they're little pieces of Martian basalt."
> >
> >But Opportunity's infrared spectrometer, called Mini-TES, saw that this
> >object did not radiate thermal energy at the frequencies expected of
> >"typical" Martian rocks, leading scientists to hypothesise that the
> >object might in fact be a meteorite rich in metal.
> >
> >Opportunity has stayed next to the object and will continue making
> >measurements over the weekend to confirm whether this is indeed a
> >meteorite. Squyres says they should have the results by Monday or
> >Tuesday. "It could be any number of things if somehow we got faked out
> >by the Mini-TES data," Squyres cautions.
> >
> >Unexpected circumstances
> >
> >Meteorites are objects that survive the - sometimes fiery - fall to a
> >planet's surface from space. Only about 2% of the meteorites that land
> >on Earth are made of nickel and iron. The rest are made of rock.
> >
> >Squyres says that the rover's rock abrasion tool, which is used to grind
> >away the surface of rocks, had never been tested against a metal like
> >nickel. "I didn't see this coming," he told New Scientist.
> >
> >Opportunity will celebrate its first birthday on the Martian surface on
> >25 January. So far, it has trekked over 2000 metres around Meridiani
> >Planum and recently weathered its first dust storm.
> >
> >Opportunity's twin rover, Spirit, has been roaming around the other side
> >of the planet on an area called Husband Hill, but it has had trouble
> >getting around because its wheels have been slipping on the sandy,
> >sloped surface. Ground controllers have also been monitoring a
> >fist-sized rock which has become stuck in the wall of Spirit's wheel.
> >
> >
> >______________________________________________
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>
> Dr. Jeffrey N. Grossman phone: (703) 648-6184
> US Geological Survey fax: (703) 648-6383
> 954 National Center
> Reston, VA 20192, USA
>
>
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Received on Fri 14 Jan 2005 09:59:54 PM PST