Mars Rover To Examine Pyramid-Shaped Boulder

Mars Rock: Curiosity Rover To Examine Pyramid-Shaped Boulder, NASA Says

The Huffington Post  |  By Ron Dicker Posted: 09/23/2012 10:05 am EDT Updated: 09/23/2012 10:05 am EDT

Curiosity's robotic arm is set to get its first workout. It's been tasked with examining a football-sized rock whose odd pyramidal shape caught the eyes of NASA scientists--and fueled the imagination of earthlings everywhere who are perhaps a tad too eager for the rover to find evidence of intelligent life on the Red Planet.

"The target rock looks like a miniature Great Pyramid of Giza, with one face artisans neglected to maintain," noted The Christian Science Monitor. "It is not something you would expect to see on the surface of Mars," wrote the Daily Mail.

Turns out there is a straightforward explanation for the rock. Project scientist John Grotzinger told The Independent that the pyramid rock shape is not uncommon on Mars. Wind erosion probably did the carving.

More - Link >>> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/23/mars-rock-curiosity-rover-pyramid-boulder_n_1904085.html

Sources: Huffington Post, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA.

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