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Martian spheres puzzle NASA scientists
. - The Weather Network&lang=en','window1','369','834','The Weather Network'); RefreshAds('News Image Popup: User Action',document.getElementById('omniture_suiteid').value); "The small spherical objects are unlike anything scientists have ever seen (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./ USGS/Modesto Junior College).")
The small spherical objects are unlike anything scientists have ever seen (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./ USGS/Modesto Junior College).
Staff writers
September 14, 2012 — NASA rover Opportunity has sent back baffling images of the surface of Mars.
NASA's Opportunity rover has sent back a "puzzling" image from Mars.
Small spherical objects -- about 3 mm in diameter -- have been found, concentrated in the "Kirkwood" region of the red planet.
Researchers say the objects are different from Mars "blueberries" -- iron-laden beads that Opportunity has discovered in numerous locations.
"This is one of the most extraordinary pictures from the whole mission," said Opportunity's principal investigator, Steve Squyres, in a statement. "Kirkwood is chock full of a dense accumulation of these small spherical objects. Of course, we immediately thought of the blueberries, but this is something different. We never have seen such a dense accumulation of spherules in a rock outcrop on Mars."
Researchers are calling the find a "geological puzzle."
While there are a few theories about what the mystery spheres might be, it may be some time before scientists come up with a definitive answer.
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