A Translucent Rock Feature Has Been Spotted By Curiosity Rover's Cameras
The Curiosity rover has snapped images of a transparent object on the Martian surface that readers at discussion forum Above Top Secret have dubbed a "Martian flower" because it is shaped like a flower's pistils, NBCNews.com's Alan Boyle reports.
The image was taken on Dec. 19 on Curiosity's 132nd day on Mars, also known as Sol 132.
A few months ago, Curiosity spotted a shiny object in the sand, which later turned out to be a piece of plastic from the rover itself. But this bit of material is probably native to Mars, according to NASA.
Guy Webster, a spokesman for the Curiosity mission, told Boyle that the irregularly-shaped object "appears to be part of the rock, not debris from the spacecraft."
Take a closer look at the mystery "Martian flower" in the picture below:
