Curiosity rover last words

NASA's Curiosity rover had an anticlimactic explanation. It was just a shred of plastic from the rover itself. This close-up image comes from the rover's ChemCam and helped NASA scientists determine the origin of the Martian interloper. NASA described it as "likely benign," which should leave the door open just enough for us to image the presence of a human-hungry alien race hiding out on the red planet. 40 of 62NASAFemale statue on Mars?NASA's Spirit rover delivered an image in 2007 showing a view of craggy little rock formations across the surface of Mars. One dramatically shaded formation stood out in the form of what looked like a little walking humanoid (either that or Bigfoot).Popular UFO blog UFO Sightings Daily ran with speculation that the rock formation is a female figure likely made by aliens. The Planetary Society was quick to call the object an optical illusion and another excellent example of pareidolia, the tendency for our minds to assign familiar patterns to random shapes or sounds.41 of 62NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSMars rover sees 'sticks'It can be hard to judge the size of objects in close-up photos from Mars. This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows some stick-like figures, but they're only about a quarter-inch (6 millimeters) long. Scientists speculate they may be crystals or minerals that filled in spaces where crystals had formed, but then dissolved. The Curiosity rover Twitter account shared a look at these formations in January 2018 and got a lot of snarky speculation in return. Twitter users suggested the stick figures looked like everything from tire tracks to Viking runes. 42 of 62NASAMini meteoriteIn October 2016, NASA's Curiosity rover spotted a weird little iron meteorite during its explorations around the base of Mount Sharp in the Gale crater on Mars. The rock would look small sitting in the palm of your hand, but the rover's close-up view shows the intricacies of the meteorite's surface. Researchers named the meteorite Egg Rock.43 of 62NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of ArizonaStrange patternsNASA posted this Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image in March 2018 with the dramatic title "The Case of the Martian Boulder Piles." Look past the dark slug-like sand dunes and instead contemplate the open spaces. It contains a surprisingly orderly series of boulder piles. NASA scientists suggest the neat piles could have been caused by a "frost heave" process with freeze-and-thaw cycles pushing the rocks into tidy shapes. A similar process has been observed here on Earth.44 of 62NASA/red circle added by CNETDonald Trump's head rendered in rockFormer president Donald Trump made a cameo appearance on Mars in this 2009 image from NASA's Opportunity rover that hit the news in 2016. It's an excellent example of pareidolia, the same psychological phenomenon that lets us see

Its nickname. The crater is located in the south pole region and the difference in darkness of the features is due to the changing frost cover on the ground.19 of 62NASA/JPL-Caltech/Red circle by Amanda Kooser/CNETDark, shiny boulderNASA's Curiosity rover snapped this view of a dark, shiny boulder on Mars on Dec. 6, 2020. The overall view is lovely, but the boulder was a bit of a mystery for how it stood out against the surrounding landscape. It's possible the boulder could be a meteorite or was perhaps deposited there from elsewhere on Mars.20 of 62NASA/JPL/MSSS/The Murray LabPossible volcanic eruption siteMars has a volcanic past, but there have been questions about whether it's been volcanically active more recently in its history. A research team suggested a "mysterious dark deposit" seen here could be evidence of an explosive volcanic deposit from within the last 50,000 years. For size, the deposit covers an area slightly larger than Washington DC.21 of 62NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSPancake-shaped rockThis is exactly what my misshapen pancakes look like on Sunday mornings. NASA's Curiosity rover snapped this shiny, flattish rock in November 2020, leading space fans to compare it with various food items, including pancakes and melted chocolate ice cream. The rock may have been polished to a sheen thanks to wind and sand action.22 of 62NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSOh look, a thigh bone on MarsMark one up for the funny-bone file. NASA's Curiosity rover sent a photo back to Earth in 2014 that showed a very odd rock shaped a bit like a femur bone from a human thigh. Scientists obligingly explained that the unusual shape was most likely the product of erosion by wind or water. If NASA ever did amazingly find human remains on Mars, scientists would want to shout it from the rooftops. 23 of 62NASA/JPL/University of ArizonaMorse code?This view from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, snapped in February 2016, shows some strange formations on the surface of the red planet. The dark, raised areas are a series of dunes that look a lot like the dots and dashes of Morse code. Unfortunately, the code spells out gibberish. Planetary scientist Veronica Bray analyzed the dune image and told Gizmodo the code works out to read "NEE NED ZB 6TNN DEIBEDH SIEFI EBEEE SSIEI ESEE SEEE !!"24 of 62NASA/JPL/Circle added by Amanda Kooser/CNETHere fishy fishy25 of 62NASA/JPL-CaltechA wild jelly doughnut appearsIt wasn't there and then it was. A jelly-doughnut-shaped object appeared rather suddenly in a set of before-and-after images from NASA's Opportunity rover on Mars. Some people believed it to be an alien fungus, but NASA was having none of that nonsense.NASA finally solved the jelly-doughnut mystery by announcing that the rock's sudden appearance was the result of the rover dislodging it by

The angles of light and shadow and shapes made by the geology in this area of Gale Crater. Keep going for a more distant look that the puts the "doorway" into context.6 of 62NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Red circle by Amanda Kooser/CNETMars Curiosity mosaic 'doorway'A mosaic view of a Mars formation as seen by the Curiosity rover puts the "doorway" in Gale Crater into context. Look for the red circle near the top. The shadowy, angular opening is actually quite small. It's a natural geologic feature.7 of 62NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/Red circle by Amanda Kooser/CNETFirst letter to be laser-engraved on MarsThe three tiny laser-made dots on this Mars rock will help scientists know the orientation of samples when they're brought back to Earth. The Perseverance rover marked a tiny letter L as a test in June 2022. The rover is gathering rock samples. Knowing the exact way they fit into their host rock will be helpful for scientists when the samples are eventually collected via NASA's planned sample return mission.8 of 62NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASUPerseverance rover 'Butt crack rock'NASA's Perseverance rover arrived on the red planet in February 2021 and has since snapped a bounty of images of the landscape in the Jezero Crater. This fantastically funny-looking rock caught the eye of space fans who laughed about its resemblance to a rear end. It earned the nickname "butt crack rock."9 of 62ESA/DLR/FU BerlinMars south pole 'angel' and 'heart'Apply a little imagination to this European Space Agency Mars Express view of the red planet's south pole and you'll see an angel and a heart together. ESA described it as an "angelic figure" in a December 2020 image release. It's simply a bit of geology on display from the icy polar region where an impact crater forms the "head" and halo, and a sublimation pit (a spot where the ice turned to vapor) formed the "hand" on the left.10 of 62NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSMother of pearl cloudsYes, these shimmering, colorful clouds appeared on Mars. NASA's Curiosity rover doesn't just eye the local geology; it also documents what's happening in the sky. This view of iridescent "mother of pearl" clouds comes from March 5, 2021."If you see a cloud with a shimmery pastel set of colors in it, that's because the cloud particles are all nearly identical in size," said atmospheric scientist Mark Lemmon with the Space Science Institute in Colorado. "That's usually happening just after the clouds have formed and have all grown at the same rate." 11 of 62NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/Red circle by Amanda Kooser/CNETNot a drill bitThis is not a Phillips-head drill bit on Mars, but it's fun to pretend. Citizen scientist Kevin Gill spotted this odd, small rock in a Curiosity rover image from late 2020 and cracked a joke about it looking like