Opportunity will release his robotic arm to collect data about a strange rock in the Meridian plane
Avi Blizovsky
The strange rock photographed by Opportunity's cameras, which scientists suspect is a meteorite
Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/mars200105.html
The scientists operating the Mars rover Opportunity decided to conduct a close study of an intriguing rock on Mars, which was nicknamed the Heat Shield Rock. One of the estimates is that it is a meteorite that the vehicle came close to by accident. A detailed study of the rock may reveal the true nature of the bone.
The Mars rover is rolling in a meridian plane and these days he is investigating the remains of his heat shield - metal remains left from the weight that helped him fall to Mars in January a year ago.
When the robot has finished a series of tests of some of the fragments, it will move north towards the heat shield rock, travel 10 meters, park itself in the appropriate position about a meter from the stone to perform remote sensing. The vehicle will then get even closer to the rock, take a sample from it and pass it through the devices at the end of the mechanical arm.
An initial look at the rock leads the scientists to hypothesize that it is a meteorite. Furthermore, the Mini-TES found that this stone is made of metal.
Steve Squires of Cornell University, the principal investigator in charge of the science equipment on Opportunity and Spirit, is also on standby. According to him, data from another instrument, an X-ray spectrometer and a Mössbauer spectrometer will arrive at the end of the week.
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~1799995~~~16&SiteName=hayadan
