NASA's Perseverance rover has made another unusual discovery on Mars, showing green spots inside a rock. This mysterious discovery was made by the rover's Sherlock Watson camera which took a nighttime mosaic image of the Malgosha Crest friction patch in the “Serpentine Rapids”.
White and black spots are also visible in the photo. To see what was inside the rock, Perseverance created an abrasion patch five centimeters in diameter in an outcrop called “Wallace Butte”. The large green spot is located in the upper left part of the image and is about two millimeters (about 0.08 inches) in diameter.
Oxidized iron is responsible for the color of rocks on Earth that are similar to those found on Mars. It also makes blood red. Green color is also common in rocks on our planet. They are formed when liquid water seeps through sediment before it hardens into rock. A chemical reaction then transforms the oxidized iron into its reduced form, giving the rock its green color.
The reduction reaction can be caused by either microorganisms or organic matter decaying in rocks on Earth. The chemical interaction between sulfur and iron can cause an iron deficiency reaction even without the help of microorganisms.
However, what causes the green color in Martian rocks is a mystery because the rover did not have much room to safely place its arms to place the Sherlock and PIXL instruments directly on top of the green spot.
Black and white striped rock on Mars
The rover has also recently clicked a picture of a black and white striped rock on Mars. While climbing the steep slopes of Jezero Crater and heading towards its rim it came across the strange rock.
The rock was named Freya Castle and scientists think that as the rover continues to climb the crater, it may find more such rocks. It is the only stone of its kind seen on Mars and is completely different from the underlying rock. Experts believe that the rock might have rolled down from a height somewhere.