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Mystery Of 'Jelly Donut' Rock Solved

posted by mattie_p on Saturday February 15 2014, @04:56AM   Printer-friendly
from the sorry-homer dept.
News

chebucto writes:

"NASA has announced that they have solved the mystery of the rock resembling a jelly doughnut, nicknamed 'Pinnacle Island', that appeared in front of the Opportunity rover recently. They have determined that it is a piece of a larger rock broken and moved by the wheel of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in early January.

Only about 1.5 inches (4 centimeters) wide, the white-rimmed, red-centered rock caused a stir last month when it appeared in an image the rover took Jan. 8 at a location where it was not present four days earlier.

More recent images show the original piece of rock struck by the rover's wheel, slightly uphill from where Pinnacle Island came to rest.

When the rock was first found, the scenario that Opportunity flipped the rock up onto itself was considered the most likely scenario. Another hypotheses was that it was ejecta from a nearby meteorite strike. Silly reactions included William Shatner wondering if it was Martians playing ring toss, and a lawsuit against NASA, alleging the space agency has been negligent in studying the object."

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  • (Score: 1) by Gaaark on Saturday February 15 2014, @04:57AM

    by Gaaark (41) on Saturday February 15 2014, @04:57AM (#136) Journal
    "It's a jelly!"
    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---

    • (Score: 1) by mhajicek on Saturday February 15 2014, @04:41PM

      by mhajicek (51) on Saturday February 15 2014, @04:41PM (#160)
      I just figured The Doctor dropped a jelly donut on his way past...
      --
      The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek

      • (Score: 1) by Gaaark on Saturday February 15 2014, @06:03PM

        by Gaaark (41) on Saturday February 15 2014, @06:03PM (#161) Journal
        The Doctor; who? :)
        No, but he could drop Amy Pond here, though. Yum....
        (But as Rob Ford would say, I get enough to eat at home, lol.)
        --
        --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---

    • (Score: 1) by elf on Saturday February 15 2014, @08:41PM

      by elf (64) on Saturday February 15 2014, @08:41PM (#175)
      But not a fish

  • (Score: 1) by Khyber on Saturday February 15 2014, @05:54AM

    by Khyber (54) on Saturday February 15 2014, @05:54AM (#139) Journal
    The people suing have no concept of the time it can take science to see things.
    --
    Destroying Semiconductors With Style Since 2008, and scaring you ill-educated fools since 2013.

    • (Score: 1) by janrinok on Saturday February 15 2014, @06:43PM

      by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Saturday February 15 2014, @06:43PM (#164) Journal

      I used to mock the US for its sue-happy culture. Unfortunately, it is now happening in Europe. Sometimes I despair for my fellow man - other times I just go to #altslashdot and sanity returns.

      Now, where are my meds.....

      --
      I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.

      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Khyber on Sunday February 16 2014, @04:13AM

        by Khyber (54) on Sunday February 16 2014, @04:13AM (#198) Journal
        Our sue-happy culture stems from the desire to let the government be the mediator since we cannot find adequate independent representation. This is a side-effect of patriotic brainwashing and half-assed civics classes (I don't even think those are taught in high school any longer. I watched that get removed from Memphis, TN's classes across two schools.) Also, our rather huge amount of laws pretty much ensures that our only real recourse is to sue in court. Hence the phrase 'Anyone can sue anyone for anything.' What's missing/misunderstood from that phrase is 'As long as they have legal standing.' This is something that would've been addressed in any good starting civics course.
        --
        Destroying Semiconductors With Style Since 2008, and scaring you ill-educated fools since 2013.

  • (Score: 1) by AudioGuy on Saturday February 15 2014, @09:06PM

    by AudioGuy (24) on Saturday February 15 2014, @09:06PM (#176) Journal
    They are just trying to cover up the fact that they have killed an innocent Martian.