Mars is, on the one hand, a source of unending fascination. It is, after all, Mars. And we're exploring it with, you know, a nuclear-powered robot that leaves Morse code in its tracks. But Mars, on the other hand -- and no offense to it or to said robot -- is also a source of unending ... unendingness. It is dusty and hilly and rocky and red, mile after mile. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Except. Every once in a while -- and there have been several of those "onces" in a not-very-long "while" -- Curiosity happens upon something that is not red, and not dusty, and not necessarily rocky. There was December's "Mars Flower," a pebble-sized white-ish object that some thought to be a fossil, and some thought to be a rock, and some thought to be a piece of errant plastic from Curiosity itself. (The jury is still out on what the object actually is -- though it's pretty safe to say that it is not, in fact, some kind of Martian marigold.)
And now we have another Martian Mystery Object -- this one a thing that looks suspiciously like a hunk of metal. Curiosity detected it, through a high-res image taken from its Mastcam, on Sol 173 (January 30 in Earth days). Universe Today calls the object "a small metallic-looking protuberance" -- it resembles a thick, bent nail, sticking out of the Martian surface -- and it is visible in part because it projects a tiny little shadow on the rock below.
Addressing the 3 Biggest BYOD Security Threats
Mobile Apps: New Ways to Connect Government with Citizens
Continuous Monitoring As a Service: A Shift in the Way Government Does Business
Research Report: Powering Continuous Monitoring Through Big Data
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
By using this service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Nextgov does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.