PASADENA, Calif. (AP) – NASA scientists on Tuesday unveiled a high-resolution photograph of an intriguing slab of martian bedrock just yards from the Opportunity rover, while they worked to avoid the computer problems that crippled its twin, Spirit.
The sharp image shows what scientists called the first bedrock ever seen on the surface of Mars. The stone forms a portion of the rim of the shallow crater into which Opportunity bounced to a stop after landing during the weekend.
”Opportunity has now sent us the most striking image yet,” said Steve Squyres, of Cornell University and the mission’s main scientist.
The rock intrigues scientists because it could contain evidence that Opportunity’s landing site once was a strikingly different place, perhaps wet enough to support life. NASA expects it will be one of Opportunity’s first targets, once it rolls off its lander sometime in the next two weeks.