NASA’s Curiosity Rover Finds Bright Object on Mars

                                      (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

During NASA’s Curiosity rover’s first scoop of Mars’ surface, the robot discovered more than just soil.

An image taken by Curiosity’s right Mast Camera (Mastcam) shows a small, bright object near the rover (in the bottom right of the image). This was the first use of the scoop on the rover’s robotic arm, NASA said in a press release.

NASA is investigating what exactly the bright object is, but they believe it may be a piece of the rover itself. They will not scoop anymore soil or use the arm until they determine what the shiny object is.

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The image was taken on Oct. 7, the rover’s 61st day on Mars. The rover is part of a two-year, $2.5 billion project to look for signs that Mars could once have had the chemical resources needed to support microbial life.