NASA’s Curiosity rover recently discovered a meteorite on the surface of Mars. This iron meteorite, about 30 cm in diameter, was named Cacao.
The rock was discovered by the Curiosity MastCam, photographed and sent back to Earth, and NASA stitched together 19 photos to create a panoramic image. It is said that Kakao was found on January 27th, when it was in the shadow of the aircraft. The next day, Curiosity changed direction to better capture the meteorite.
This isn’t the first time Curiosity has found a meteorite. In 2014, a 2m iron meteorite was found in Lebanon, and in 2016, a meteorite named Egg Rock was found in Mount Sharp.
Iron meteorites have appeared frequently in human history, such as making weapons forged from meteorites on Earth. There is no way to date meteorites on Mars, but the Curiosity Twitter account says they may have been there for millions of years.
Curiosity discovered Kakao on the 3,724th day of Mars. Since landing on Mars in August 2012, the rover has explored Gale Crater and the central 5 km tall Mount Sharp. The main purpose of Curiosity is to investigate whether there was an environment in which life could exist on Mars. The purpose of the follow-up rover, Perseverance, is also similar in many respects, but it is equipped with a state-of-the-art set of instruments and is located 2,300 miles from the Curiosity landing site. Although these two rovers are acting separately, both are investigating the geological past of Mars and uncovering clues about ancient Mars, which was different from its current appearance.
Perseverance is also collecting rock samples to be sent to Earth in the early 2030s. Of course, meteorites will remain on the surface as one of the highlights of Mars, not something that can be brought. Related information this placecan be found in