Where did it come from?… ‘Zebra Rock’ with cross stripes found on Hwaseong [우주를 보다]

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Striped rock found by Perseverance. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

NASA’s exploration rover ‘Perseverance’, which took on the new challenge of exploring the crater’s summit area, found another unusual rock. Recently, NASA released the photo, saying that Perseverance discovered a strange rock with contrasting black and white stripes while moving on the 13th.

This rock, nicknamed ‘Zebra Rock’, is about 20cm in size and it is clear that it is different from the surrounding stones just by looking at the picture. It has properties and textures that are different from rocks discovered so far by rovers such as Perseverance and Curiosity. After that, attention was focused on the identity of the rock. Experts believed that this rock had these stripes as a result of metamorphism on Mars. Athanasios Klidaras, a researcher at Purdue University who is participating in the Perseverance project, said, “There is not much information about the chemical composition of this rock, but it may be a metamorphic rock caused by heat and pressure. ” It is easy to find on Mars, where there are many igneous rocks caused by volcanic activity “I can’t,” he said.

Experts also thought that Zebra Rock was originally located high, but rolled down and would be visible to Perseverance.

Appearance of rock considered to be plagioclase taken by Perseverance. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Rocks with a popcorn-like texture built by Perseverance. Photo = NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Perseverance has previously discovered and photographed unusual rocks on Mars. Last May, Perseverance discovered a rock believed to be anorthosite that looked particularly bright while exploring Mt. Washbone, rocky area. Also in June, Perseverance attracted attention by finding rocks with a popcorn-like texture while exploring the Bright Angel area.

Sustainability carrying out a mission on Mars. NASA

Meanwhile, Perseverance was launched on an Atlas-5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida, USA on July 30, 2020. Perseverance, which flew about 468 million km over 204 days, landed in Jezero Crater, believed to be an ancient delta on Mars, on February 18, 2021, and has been exploring the bottom there ever since. However, recently Perseverance started moving to the top of the pit, which is about 305 meters high, and it is expected that this will take several months. Reporter Park Jong-ik

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