Opportunity Spies Unusual Rock -- Large Meteorite?

By Nancy Atkinson - August 1, 2009 at 8:25 AM UTC | Planetary Science
Oppys-meteorite.jpg

The Opportunity rover has come across an odd-shaped, large, dark rock, about 0.6 meters (2 feet) across on the surface of Mars, which may be a meteorite. The rover team spotted the rock called "Block Island," on July 18, 2009, in the opposite direction from which it was driving. The team then had the rover do a hard right (not really, but you know what I mean) and backtrack some 250 meters (820 feet) to study it closer. Oppy has been studying the rock with its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer to get composition measurements and to confirm if indeed it is a meteorite.

Below, see a close-up, colorized version of Block Island and a 3-D version, both created by Photoshopper Extraordinaire Stu Atkinson.

[caption id="attachment_36518" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

Block Island close up and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL, with image editing by Stuart Atkinson[/caption]

Block Island really does have a meteorite-like look to it.

Stu suggested on his blog

that it looks like several meteorites found on Earth, such as one of the Derrick Peak meteorites found in Antarctica, shown below. The Derrick Peak meteorites are iron meteorites, and about 27 were found in one location in Antarctica. Researchers believe they all came from one meteor shower.

Check out

Stu's blog Cumbrian Sky

to see lots of other meteorites, including the one Opportunity found on Mars in 2005.

And below is a look at Block Island in 3-D. We'll keep you posted on the results from Oppy's examinations of this rock, and what this interesting find might tell us.

[caption id="attachment_36503" align="aligncenter" width="468"]

Block Island in 3-D. Credit: JPL, NASA and Stu Atkinson[/caption]

Sources:

JPL,

Cumbrian Sky

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com