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Mystery Over Shiny Particles On Mars Gets More Exciting
TBI ^ | 10-17-2012 | Dina Spector

Posted on 10/17/2012 10:47:23 AM PDT by blam

Mystery Over Shiny Particles On Mars Gets More Exciting

Dina Spector
Oct. 17, 2012, 12:32 PM

NASA

NASA's Curiosity rover had been on Mars 61 days when she gathered her first scoop of soil.

Before the one-ton robot could finish sifting through her first small bucket of dust, however, all the excitement shifted to a shiny object found in the sand near the rover.

After reviewing images, the Curiosity team determined that the bright material was probably a piece of plastic from the rover and not material from Mars.

Or so they thought.

The rover collected its second scoop of Martian soil at the "Rocknest" site on Sol 66. More bright particles were found. Believing these particles were also tiny pieces of rover, the team decided not to run the dirt sample through Curiosity's analysis instrument to avoid contaminating the mechanism with Earth debris. The scoop was thrown away. That same day, however, Curiosity snapped an image showing part of the hole left when Curiosity took her first scoop.

The team noticed something different this time.

They saw that a light-toned particle was embedded in a clump of Martian soil, leading researchers to believe that the material could be native to Mars. This find completely overturned their original argument: These mystery particles are not something from the rover.

Following the discovery, a third scoop of soil was collected. This sample will now be run through Curiosity's Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument to figure out what it's made of, and hopefully

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(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: mars; nasa; particles; shinyobject
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1 posted on 10/17/2012 10:47:25 AM PDT by blam
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To: blam

Gold?


2 posted on 10/17/2012 10:51:30 AM PDT by ncpatriot
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To: blam
Interesting. Odd that they'd think that something dug up from centimeters under the surface might have been something that just "fell off" the rover.

It'll be interesting to see what the analyzer makes of it...

3 posted on 10/17/2012 10:58:13 AM PDT by Dead Corpse (I will not comply.)
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To: blam

1962 University of Vladivostok class ring.

Sorry, Comrades!


4 posted on 10/17/2012 10:59:15 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: ncpatriot

Too bad we can start a gold rush to Mars and get all the liberals to go for it...just to find out it’s pyrite. Then we won’t let them come back! Just dreamin’


5 posted on 10/17/2012 11:00:15 AM PDT by gr8eman (Ron Swanson for President!)
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To: gr8eman

I like your idea. Any hope that a few of our more egregious RINO’s might fall for the same trick?


6 posted on 10/17/2012 11:06:02 AM PDT by Dead Corpse (I will not comply.)
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To: blam
GOOOOOOOLLLLLDDDDD!!!!!

OK, that's unlikely. But maybe....

AAAALUMINUUUUUMMM!!!!!

7 posted on 10/17/2012 11:06:43 AM PDT by Antoninus (Sorry, gone rogue.)
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To: ncpatriot

Its a pull tab...


8 posted on 10/17/2012 11:08:07 AM PDT by B.O. Plenty (Elections have consequences....)
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To: Dead Corpse

I believe the 1st one in question was sitting on the surface, not part of a scoop. They threw away the scoop thinking that the soil was contaminated. Now they are finding them in scoops, apparently.


9 posted on 10/17/2012 11:08:49 AM PDT by SengirV
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To: blam

Much better close up here. Looks like a piece of plastic or something.

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/


10 posted on 10/17/2012 11:10:53 AM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: Antoninus

The presence of aluminium would be diagnostic as well. Aluminum ore is typically formed in humid or wet environments.


11 posted on 10/17/2012 11:11:10 AM PDT by ruiner
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To: gr8eman

Just spread the word that there’s free Obamaphones there, and let their inhuman nature take over...........


12 posted on 10/17/2012 11:12:21 AM PDT by Red Badger (Is it just me, or is Hillary! starting to look like Benjamin Franklin?.................)
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To: blam
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
13 posted on 10/17/2012 11:13:38 AM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: blam

UNOBTANIUM!!!!!!!!!


14 posted on 10/17/2012 11:15:02 AM PDT by wxgesr (I want to be the first person to surf on another planet.)
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To: cripplecreek

They’ve discovered duct tape?


15 posted on 10/17/2012 11:15:46 AM PDT by Leep (Forward! to serfdom)
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To: blam

Find a penny, pick it up for good luck.


16 posted on 10/17/2012 11:15:59 AM PDT by Defiant (If there are infinite parallel universes, why Lord, am I living in the one with Obama as President?)
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To: blam
Before the one-ton robot could finish sifting through her first small bucket of dust, however, all the excitement shifted to a shiny object found in the sand near the rover.

Great we sent up a rover with ADD.

17 posted on 10/17/2012 11:16:27 AM PDT by DYngbld (I have read the back of the Book and we WIN!!!!)
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To: Antoninus

just a shiny wrapper off a bar of gold pressed latinum.


18 posted on 10/17/2012 11:19:05 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: blam
Hmmm...looks to me like a piece of a illudium Q-36 explosive space modulator.
19 posted on 10/17/2012 11:20:06 AM PDT by Miles the Slasher
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To: blam

Democrats distracted, may not be able to vote.


20 posted on 10/17/2012 11:21:44 AM PDT by bmwcyle (Corollary - Electing the same person over and over and expecting a different outcome is insanity)
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