Mars Curiosity spots shiny object

[Hum]

The Curiosity rover is stopping its sampling of soil from the surface of Mars because of a shiny object noticed on the ground.

A photo released by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of Curiosity's first scoop of Martian soil also revealed a bright object nearby.

The planned sampling has been stopped so that scientists can get some additional images of the unknown object and assess any impact on the rover's activities.

"The object might be a piece of rover hardware," the JPL caption to the photo noted.

When word of the mysterious item on the surface spread, Twitter commenters, of course, chimed in with their guesses: a lost earring, a cigarette butt, a screw that came loose, Martian macaroni or some unusual chunks of sand.

The official @MarsCuriosity account tweeted, "Team spotted bright object on ground near me?possibly a piece of rover hardware? Gathering more data." A more detailed picture from Curiosity's ChemCam imager seemed to indicate it was possibly some plastic wrap or a small piece of insulating tape that is used around the rover

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[king_of_hearts]

[skilithead]

It's obviously a tiny space man wearing a helmet .

[king_of_hearts]

"Curiosity's main activity in the 62nd sol of the mission (Oct. 8, 2012) was to image a small, bright object on the ground using the Remote Micro-Imager of the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument.

The rover team's assessment is that the bright object is something from the rover, not Martian material. It appears to be a shred of plastic material, likely benign, but it has not been definitively identified."

Source: NASA.gov [ http://mars.jpl.nasa...ews&NewsID=1372 ]

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

It's either something from the rover or one of those player pieces from Monopoly.

[Authentic X]

Its the Gieco gecko on Mars

[+Majesticmerc MVC]

It's probably Beagle 2 :p

[Hum]

Enhanced close-up:

[Growled Member]

It's an air vent from their underground structures.

[Detection]

What is to say that life on other planets has to be the same/similar size to us?

Maybe there is an identical race on Mars, only too small to see with the human eye.....

That might be their Eiffel Tower :p

[mudslag]

good old Earth plastic

[skilithead]

What is to say that life on other planets has to be the same/similar size to us?

Maybe there is an identical race on Mars, only too small to see with the human eye.....

That might be their Eiffel Tower :p

That reminds me of an old Twilight Zone episode ! :alien:

[Hum]

What is to say that life on other planets has to be the same/similar size to us?

Quite true. ;)

[mudslag]

That reminds me of an old Twilight Zone episode ! :alien:

They had a few

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invaders_%28The_Twilight_Zone%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_People

Little people was one of my favs

[skilithead]

I watch them on Hulu .

[Hum]

Straining my eyes, I see:

[Skin]

dang aliens should have gotten one of these... then they wouldn't have lost their ship key.

[mudslag]

looks like perry the platypus to me

[Rohdekill]

probably just a disposed coke can. Nothing to see here....move along, move along.