By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
As the rover Curiosity tries out more of its tools on Mars, surprises emerge on the Red Planet. After using the rover to scooping dirt, scientists saw something unexpected: small bright objects.
At first, they looked man-made and out of place, said John Grotzinger, Mars Science Laboratory Project scientist and professor at California Institute of Technology, at a news briefing Thursday.
But upon closer examination, these 1-millimeter flecks – about the size of the granules in the soil – were not uniformly bright and didn't appear to have come from the rover.
"The majority of the science team felt that this might be something that is actually indigenous to Mars," he said.
There are two prevailing theories about what these flecks might be. One is that certain classes of minerals, when broken along a cleavage plane, would have a flat surface that reflects sunlight. Or perhaps they're part of a soil-forming process.
This is probably not connected to the object that Curiosity found last week, which NASA scientists believe was "a shred of plastic material, likely benign."
The images that the rover sends from this location will help scientists come up with more hypotheses about how this area was formed. They will eventually pick a rock for the rover to drill into.
"Beginning with some rocks we studied before the scooping began, and going on now for the several weeks in front of us, those images will help guide us and give the team options of what I’m starting to call tours," he said.
Curiosity is currently situated at the "promised land" of Glenelg , a site of particular scientific interest on the Red Planet because three different kinds of terrain exist there.
For a little over a week, the rover has been sitting at a place called Rocknest, where it has used its scoop three times to pick up Martian material. The rover threw away the first two samples because they were used for cleaning high-tech instruments. Curiosity inserted material from the third sample into an instrument called Chemistry & Mineralogy (CheMin), which will analyze the minerals of which the material is composed.
"The most important thing about our mobile laboratory is that it eats dirt," Grotzinger said.
The rover has been operating on Mars since its spectacular landing on August 6. After Glenelg, it will head to Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-high mountain made of layers of sediment. Curiosity will examine these layers for organic molecules, evidence that life could have once existed there.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertise with us | About us | Help | Advertising Practices
Picture #4 looks like a piece of the side of a condom wrapper.
LOLOLOLOL IT DOES NOT BUT YOU JUST MADE MY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds like flecks of mica. It has those properties and can be found all over the Earth. It is definitely part of the soil formation process and is often associated with clay soils. Often when light hits the surface of a fleck of mica it can appear golden in color and is often mistaken for gold in stream water when people pan for gold. Difference with gold is that mica is flat while gold tends to form odd shapes sometimes resembling small stones or sand grains.
Fool's Gold? Mars is made of Fool's Gold?
Rosie, given the conditions we find on Mars now and what was likely the conditions in the past, the evidence points more toward the formation of Iron pyrite rather than mica. The past atmosphere had a signicantly higher oxygen content which would have reacted with iron oxides to produce iron pyrites. I think we are seeing plain old "fools gold" here. Also, the brightness is not uniform, which says to me that this is not a sillicate crystaline structure. In addition you most often find mica in a sheet rather than single granules as we are seeing here.
Why is the penny from 1909?
Think of all the future CVS / Walgreen locations and massive subdivisions filled with boomers throughout Mars!
Curiosity in the sky with Diamonds!
From an old man's perspective, the experience of the first 55 years of the "space age" prompts a few thoughts. Long-term human survival beyond the extremely narrow limits of Earth's biosphere is highly improbable and prohibitively expensive. Therefore, robotics seems to be the best solution for efficient exploration. But there will be no human society capable of pursuing that if we do not direct more attention to exploring the consequences and correction of our failures as stewards of our children and the environment we leave them. Technical intelligence is a poor bet to outlive ethical stupidity.
Probably just plastic Walmart bags reflecting in the soil.
My shiny things! MINE! You can't have my shiny things!
Sholazar Basin.
What the hell is benign plastic?
Plastic that is free of cancer?
... actually, I think it's their way of saying that it has nothing to do directly with Mars or the mission because it actually came from the rover itself.
WOW, It amazes me how political nonsense works it's way into everything these days.
"It's Obamas birth certificuit" no "it's Romney's hidden of shore fortune"
Can't we just speak about the scientific marvel that this mission has been and leave politics out of something for once?
Mars is a red planet. The earth is blue. There's a solution here somewhere...
Yeah. I know what you mean. It's not just science articles, it's all articles. The above was supposed to make you laugh, btw.
Crash them together and we get a purple planet. There aren't enough purple planets in the solar system anyway.
Okay ... that one was pretty funny!
... and it wasn't demeaning to either party or cantidate so it's unique too!
I agree this is what happens when you give a redneck a computer.
Now we're trashing mars?
All together now,
Litterbug, Litterbug
shame on you
look at the terrible things you do
littering cluttering every place
my but it's disgraceful.
Litterbug, litterbug
where's your pride
making a mess of the countryside
spoiling and soiling each lovely view
shame oh shame on you.
It really makes one wonder
what kind of house you keep
where on every tour
the world is your personal garbage heap.
You thoughtless litterbug
litterbug don't you care?
People must follow
you everywhere
spoiling and soiling each
lovely view
Shame Oh! Shame On You!"
it's obamas birth certificate
Shining like gold?
...and it says "Hawaii." You can wonder how it got there, but it exists!
When will Mars's land and resources go on the market?
Judging from the comments, this is why you should never plan a mission during an election year.
Just at the end of the year, just at the end. For the first six months everybody eats, drinks and enjoys life without being concerned of any social political reality.
Great. A probe with ADD.
Calcium....Magnesium.....Sodium....OOOOh! Shiny!
Don't forget that the probe likes to eat dirt too. Three scoop fulls so far.
And it wears a helmet of sorts. Fortunately there are no windows to lick there, or it wouldn't even be doing much roving.
..."Nevertheless, no earth creature is going to contaminate my atmosphere."
"...it's quite simple, I'm going to blow it up"
Why all the hate? Most be a lot of trolls prowling this site.
The fact that almost all of you on here are attacking one another and not actually opening your mind to the earth shattering events going on just proves how asleep our country is... Oo I'm sorry to report I think its just AMERICAN that is asleep. We are dragging down the process of our planet by staying addicted to JUNK and not being able to comprehend major change like this... If Honey Boo Boo was to tell you about this the whole country would know by this afternoon...
You are not completely right: America is on Mars, despite someone's cynicism and lack of fantasy. People who have no more dream are dead (metaphorically.)
Looks like the trolls and jokers are having fun with this article.
These could very well be machine parts. Mars was inhabited millions of years ago and has pictograms, statues like the Face on Mars and pyramids. These are parts of decayed machines that were left behind.
They need find something, ANYTHING, that will finally disprove all the baloney about Westernized fairy tales. Anything...you would think by the 21st century people would realize they have the wool pulled over their eyes...
Those little shiny things could be microchips containing citations for misdemeanor offenses such as trespass, illegal parking, littering, etc. Watch for Curiosity to call home for a credit card number. Meanwhile, NSA has decoded transmissions from that vicinity: "The UFO has landed and is eating our planet."
Funny and very creative.
all is preparation for the revelation that we are not alone .....slowly but surely, you can read it in THE DIMENSION MACHINE
so little time - so much red dust to redistribute
"feeling lucky punks?"
see these eyes so green - i can stare for a thousand years - red dust in the wind - pop the can bro ray
Amazing! I would like to see more robots collecting more and more samples. I'm dreaming a big space town on a planet similar to ours. It will probably happen in a remote future; all of us are killing the Earth and humans will need to migrate to new worlds. Let's hope that creatures of other planets are not going to impose too strict immigration laws.
Long-term human survival beyond the extremely narrow limits of Earth's biosphere is highly improbable and prohibitively expensive. Therefore, robotics is the indicated solution for efficient exploration. But there will be no human society capable of pursuing that if we do not direct more attention to exploring the consequences and correction of our failures as stewards of our children and the environment we leave them. Technical intelligence is a poor bet to outlive ethical stupidity.
Hello,does anyone else wonder why we just dont build a space ship i mean huge, we have resorces and technology, Make it happen, nasa stop wasting billions on stupid stuff like this, its a waste of time.i challenge a billioniar to make a campain to build a massive space ship funded by the people so we can travel long distances in space we can do it and they know it.
If gold is found by Rover, there will be a huge colony established on Mars in no time. A Martian gold rush.
A new colonial era!!! But...hum. will they drink liquid gold?
It will probably cost a billion dollars per pound for the Mars-sample return mission that NASA is planning, so don't expect that gold rush anytime soon.
Yeah, it ain't gonna be profitable to collect Martian gold any time soon. It'll take Romney at least 2-3 years to ruin the economy again, and then the price of Terran gold will exceed that of Martian gold.
"and you can take that to the bank" - blood red mars bank
Amazing how people can take something so fantastic in terms of human accomplishment and turn it into an ignorant stand for political bacon sandwich, but then again they just want to see their comments in print, one of the draw backs of social media.....our future marches on!
more red here than on mars anyway
Maybe this will help the do nothing congress to Jump start our manned space program for a landing on Mars in this century. Mar's provides an answer to this World's debt problem. Unlike America at the time of Columbus it seems Mars lacks a Human Population.
looks like a tooth–can't really determine a size–might just be some styrofoam left over from Roswell trip.
Great – bright shiny objects on another planet. Don't I have enough of them here on Earth distracting me?
carole king it's too late - both blue and red singing
I'm a science person, but I just can't help but say the first thing that popped into my head was the old pull-tabs from beer cans.
Actually, those are rhinestones used by Romney for his magic underwear.
"[T]he first two samples . . . were used for cleaning high-tech instruments." Is this the first time the human race has used Martian resources for anything other than direct testing? Using local materials for practical purposes will likely be the key to colonizing Mars says Zubrin and others. Maybe that first step has been taken.
When I saw picture no. 4, I thought for a second it was a piece from a plastic shopping bag that had somehow blown all the way to mars!
I love reading this stuff because I find some creative and funny comments. There must be stand up comics all over the world! What saddens me is that there just aren't enough comedy clubs to go around. If I had a comedy act, I'd use some of this material.
Signed – Milton Berle
It's clearly Unobtainium.
Love it.
One alien's crap is another man's treasure
Trayvon's grill ?
CNN MANAGEMENT: gone from trends i see - okay i got it - im just a smart nobody who believes it needs to come - thanx again
may i hear piers say checkmate on election night? LMFAO
It is gold. Estimated at 200 billion Tons
You have to be kidding me CNN. With all the issues this country is facing and this is one of your top stories. Do you know how much money is wated on this while people go homeless and kids have no food. Forget the tax increases, forget cutting welfare, cut this waste and put it to good use.
Bla, bla, bla ... lets forget about scientific discovery and advancement of mankind in general becausae there are some humans who are too lazy to provide for themselvs ... bla, bla, bla!!!
Get a life Miller Barber!
This is proof of some ignorance: scientific progress is the future. In a few years (let's say one/two hundred years) a large portion of the Earth population won't have food for the lack of water, and the next generations will have to explore new frontiers, and they will be other planets similar to ours.
Do you know how many lives have been saved over the years simply through discovers made during this very type of research. How do you think we ended up with most of our medical technologies? Space exploration brought us radio and computing technologies. It is through science that we progress.
It amazes me how political nonsense works it's way into everything these days.
"It's Obamas birth certificuit" no "it's Romney's hidden of shore fortune"
Can't we just speak about the scientific marvel that this mission has been and leave politics out of something for once?
^^^^^ clearly a Taliban infiltrator attempting to distract from the important issues we face today.
clearly a non-fake-taliban from non-israel that we see non-trolling all over the web, Seth....that is a filipino name i guess.....
I think it's an amazing find. Very exciting. So nice to read about something that's not connected to the election for a change.
let's see if Wall Street speculations lift economy out of recession !
They found gold in them thar hills.
That shiny object must be Michele Bachmann's gold tooth. Lord only knows she has a big-enough mouth for it !! What's more, it is my understanding she applied for dual-citizenship, and the media stated Michele now has citizenship papers here in the USA and Switzerland. Well, I really do believe it's more like here in the USA and MARS...ROFLMAO
I love you liberals Attack the conservative and it is okay. How about I say it is part of Michelle Obama's fat butt is that funny? No! Get a life you loser.
How about both sides leave out such BS and stick to the subject matter at hand. Just a thought....
Mars-bat??
Looks like Illudium Q-36
No need to get excited. It's just some Mcdonalds litter.
It's a tooth! it's evolution in action!
I'm really curious about phote 8. If there is no water on Mars, why are the tire tracks so compacted. I would assume if there is no water on Mars and the soil would be extemely dry and sandy and would not compact together so easily. Any explanations out there?
Pour some flour on the ground and step in it. You'll find your footprint in the dry, dusty material. The rover just makes a deeper imprint because it's much heavier and has more material to compress.
Think again, the "Dry" flour you speak of holds a footprint because of the water vapor we have here on Earth.
Curious, I will be happy to try to explain this if CNN will stop blocking my posts. We discovered this same phenomenon on the moon in the dust there. The grains have sharp edges and points in their contour which interlock with other dust and sand grains and cause them to stick together even in the absence of water. The grains don't get weathered and smoothed out the way they would on Earth because they are not exposed to water.
Considering its a stream that sure looks like a gold nugget to me. Where do I file my claim.
The first rock looks like a small pyramid. Is this the first sign of life? We know nothing about martians, or if they still exist. But they must have been tiny if this is one of their pyramids. Also, did anyone see the UFO in the upper right picture #51 and is it any coincidence that it is #51, (thinking of area 51?). Is this final proof staring right at us? All we need now are some foot prints, unless they are good at covering their footprints, or a family portrait, somewhere. Well at least, meanwhile, we know there is intelligent life on earth (I am proof of that)..
I hope that they are not remnants of beer cans, like we find here on our beaches
Tarpon Springs FL
That's it then, we've totally run out of space to trash our own planet now we start on the other celestial bodies, sad!
Hey, I think that is my high school class ring.....
Still hard to fathom we are looking at the surface of another planet! Its absolutely amazing..
I'm amazed how "shiny" automatically has so many people jumping to the conclusion that it's gold or diamond. My first thought was mica. Anyway, there are many, many materials that are shiny besides gold or diamond.
...but especially gold and diamond. hooray!
Those fleck are bone fragments and all that remains of poor Jimmy Hoffa. Government conspiracy and all that, FBI sent his remains to Mars on a rocket years ago...
This looks like Los Angeles...
Diamonds on my neck, d-diamonds on my grill
Diamonds on my neck, d-diamonds on my grill
Still no duck face, gj NASA.
Why doesn't CNN have their normal post of: "If your there send us your iphone pictures."?
Like everything else NASA and the Russians have been doing, this too is fake....
http://www.fountainsofthegreatdeep.com/Mars.htm
everyone should download Google Earth,,, then look at Mars,,,, water flow is obvious all over the planet,,,
Looks like Obama's missing gold tooth. I knew we had a reason for going out there!
it's jesus
Hmm.. So that's where my tax payer $$$ are going. Unbelievable my $$$ are being used to dig up dirt in some obscure planet. This is what happens when you throw money at liberal scientists. This is outrageous to say the least.
Could you maybe have another thought?
Fake.....
http://www.fountainsofthegreatdeep.com/Mars.htm
Clearly it is part of a wrapper from a York Peppermint Patty. Not surprising, since it was shot in the New Mexico desert.
I kid! I kid!
Dang it! I told ET not to throw his gum wrappers on the ground. Now who's going to clean up that mess.
Maybe we should clean up the mess here before we look at other places to mess up, do ya think?
Photoshop.
Instant justification for the project.
It's Gold boys! Send up the excavation and miniing teams now!
If all of the people who post their "witty" comments on articles like this actually vote it explains alot.
Maybe you should get a sense of humor.
witty?
Don't you mean sh_____?
Can someone please flip the pyramid rock over? Didn't anyone notice the layer of different material on the base?
Trayvon's grill
BO talking abort at mars while MR and BC give women what they really want LOL
$2.6 Billion to find pyrite???
All these worlds are yours except Europa..
II wonder if it is another vault key?
The Jews will be there in a year.
I-dot...
I-dot = dunce...
The comments on here explain as to why the U.S. is ranked 14th in science literacy. How embarrassing we've become as a nation. You can take the bench but i'm not going to.
sadly, 17th
Lol, so we've actually landed how many devices/robots on mars, and we're already finding human garbage and plastic left behind? We don't waste any time do we. Priority 1: find evidence of life; Priority 2: pollute if possible
Find a penny, pick it up...
Looks my SIM card from my cell phone!!
Boy oh boy, just let it be gold. I'll be on the next rocket ship outta here.
Rover has been shedding trash since it got there.
No matter where mankind goes in the universe, you can be sure a wave of garbage will follow behind.
Its just our nature.
Hmm.. So that's where my tax payer $$$ are going. Unbelievable my $$$ are being used to dig up dirt in some obscure planet. This is what happens when you throw money at liberal scientists. This is outrageous.
You dropped out of high school at 16 didn't you.
Probably went into the army or went to work at the local gas station.
Too funny.
Wow! you sound EXACTLY like my ancestors who opposed Columbus's voyage to the New World! Bravo!
micah
it is garbage..we have left our mark
And..they even found a piece of debris that was later determined to be part of a wrapper from In and Out Burger.
NASA has withheld the photo showing an uncovered old pull tab from a can of Schlitz.
My gold bullion!! I knew I left that peice somewhere!
"Get your a** to Mars!"
oh come on, First we polluted earth, now we are polluting mars too. .. oh mars is dead anyway!
The Martian race built itself for a million years, refined itself, erected cities like those out there, did everything it could to give itself respect and beauty, and then it died. Part of it died slowly, in its own time, before our age, with dignity. But the rest!
But does the rest of Mars die of a disease with a fine name or a terrifying name or a majestic name? No, in the name of all that's holy, it has to be chicken pox, a child's disease, a disease that doesn't even kill children on Earth! It's not right and it's not fair. It's like saying the Greeks died of mumps, or the proud Romans died on their beautiful hills of athlete's foot! If only we'd given the Martians time to arrange their death robes, lie down, look fit, and think up some other excuse for dying. It can't be a dirty, silly thing like chicken pox.
It doesn't fit the architecture; it doesn't fit this entire world!
God bless you Ray Bradbury!
Sadly these small fragments are all thats left of Optimus Prime, following his annihilation by the Decepticons.