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Spotlight On Mars - Image |
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Spot-on Science! |
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April 09, 2008 |
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Instead of taking spots out, NASA's Mars rovers put spots in! While driving backward down the north rim of "Home Plate," Spirit used its robotic arm to clear away grit from flat rocks under its wheels. Upon taking a second look, Spirit discovered not only spots but stripes. The stripes are light-colored and dark-colored grains of sediment between layers of dark rock with no distinct grains. The grains range in size from about the width of a human hair to half the thickness of a dime. Light-colored dust clings to their rough surfaces. The mixture of sizes suggests the grains may have come from a volcanic explosion or been deposited by Martian winds. Thanks to Spirit, human scientists get an on-the-spot analysis of Martian history!
Robotic arm image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Microscopic image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/USGS
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