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

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