Therefore, the rover resumed its journeys on Mars, and every image of the rover reveals its share of surprises. A month ago, NASA posted incredibly clear sightings, and we discovered unexpected blue rocks! However, at that time, all eyes were on the light-speckled rock. All we could see was a whole pile of rocks, and the specialists decided to call it Atoko Point.
On the other hand, no one has really stayed on these blue rocks, centered in the middle of this area known as “Mount Washburn.” Most of the blue-black rocks visible on Mars, such as those on Mount Washburn, are volcanic basalt.
New evidence of the existence of water in the past
These rocks resemble volcanic rocks found under the Earth's oceans. Planetary scientist and geophysicist J. Jeffrey Taylor of the University of Hawaii: “Mars is composed primarily of terrestrial basalt-like rocks called tholeiit, which make up most of the ocean islands, mid-ocean ridges, and seafloor.” Sediments [sur Terre] “.
This is clearly new evidence of the presence of water at the bottom of Jezero Crater, which the rover has been traveling through for more than three years.
A piece of bottom crust
As for the speckled white rock, specialists classify it as anorthosite, which is also a volcanic rock, but is richer in silica compounds. Which suggests that this stone may have emerged from deeper underground depths than the surrounding rocks.
“Seeing a rock like Atoko Point is one of those clues that tells us that we actually have anorthosites on Mars,” said Dr. Stack Morgan of NASA JPL. Mashable . “This could be a sample of this lower crustal material.”