NASA’s Curiosity rover has found another meteorite on Mars. The space rock is about 1 foot (0.3 meters) wide and consists primarily of iron and nickel, Curiosity team members announced via Twitter on Thursday (Feb. 2). And the meteorite has a name.
“We’re calling it ‘Cacao,'” the Curiosity team wrote in the Twitter post(opens in new tab), which includes a photo of the rock.
The car-sized Curiosity landed inside Mars’ 96-mile-wide (154 kilometers) Gale Crater in August 2012, on a quest to determine if the area could have supported Earth-like life long ago.
The robot’s work over the past decade has answered that question in the affirmative, showing that Gale hosted a potentially habitable lake-and-stream system in the ancient past. What’s more, this watershed likely persisted for millions of years at a stretch, possibly allowing time for the rise of Martian microbes.
Rock. Rock. Rock. Rock. Rock. Rock. METEORITE!
It’s not uncommon to find meteorites on Mars – in fact, I’ve done it a few times! (see ?) But a change in scenery’s always nice.
This one’s about a foot wide and made of iron-nickel. We’re calling it “Cacao.” pic.twitter.com/I37HiGjN2t
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) February 2, 2023
more at space.com
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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