Mysterious Rock on Mars

NASA's "Perseverance" spacecraft discovered a light-colored rock unlike anything seen before in a field of dark rocks, an finding that sheds new light on the geology of the Red Planet. The spacecraft encountered the rock while passing through the "Neritva Vallis" area, believed to contain evidence of an ancient river that existed billions of years ago. "Perseverance" changed its course to avoid rough terrain, navigating through a field of sand dunes to reach a hill called "Washburn Mountain." Images captured by the spacecraft along its new route show the hill covered in rocks, some of which NASA described as "a type not previously observed on Mars." One of the rocks, approximately 45 cm wide and 35 cm long, was a strangely light-colored rock in a field of dark rocks. Scientists noted that the rock is "in a grouping of its own" among the Martian rocks. At the base of the new site, the spacecraft also observed light-colored rock outcrops that likely represent either ancient rocks exposed due to river erosion or sediments that filled the channel.