More Bright Shiny Particles Found on Mars, Mystery Continues

The Mars Curiosity Rover 61 days into the mission spotted a bright shiny object in the sand. After looking at the images more closely the Curiosity team determined that the object was probably just a piece of plastic off the rover. See below for image.

The rover collected a second bucket of material at “Rocknest” site on Sol 66 and discovered more shiny particles. The team again determined these bright objects were surely off the Curiosity Rover, most likely more plastic like before. After the second scope was dumped back onto Martian soil the Curiosity team took a image of the hole it left behind.

Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera took this image on the mission’s 66th Martian day, or sol, (Oct. 12, 2012)

That’s when they discovered a light toned particle embedded in the Martian soil. This time around there was no doubt this particle was not off the Curiosity Rover, but rather native to Martian soil. “Confidence for going ahead with the third scooping was based on new assessment that other bright particles in the area are native Martian material,” NASA said in statement.Read more.