![\"NASA\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_scientists-puzz-1357576.jpg\")
NASA\u2019s Mars Perseverance rover captured images of the bizarre ‘Skull Hill'(Image: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/WNS)<\/p>\nNASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has stumbled across yet another unusual rock on the Red PlanetNASA\u2019s Mars Perseverance rover captured images of the bizarre ‘Skull Hill'(Image: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/WNS)<\/p>\n
A NASA rover uncovered a rock on Mars that has baffled scientists, as they say it originated from elsewhere.<\/p>\n
The Perseverance rover is currently searching the Martian surface for signs of ancient life. Earlier this month (April 11), the rover paused at a boundary between light and dark rock outcrops where it spotted a peculiar-looking rock which scientists have nicknamed “Skull Hill”.<\/p>\n
The bizarre rock features an eye socket-like shape and its dark colour stood out against the surrounding light-toned rock.<\/p>\n
NASA said in a blog post: “The rover has encountered a variety of neat rocks that may have originated from elsewhere and transported to their current location, also known as float.<\/p>\n
“This float rock uniquely contrasts the surrounding light-toned outcrop with its dark tone and angular surface, and it features a few pits in the rock. If you look closely, you might even spot spherules within the surrounding regolith!<\/p>\n
“We\u2019ve found a few of these dark-toned floats in the Port Anson region, and the team is working to better understand where these rocks came from and how they got here.”<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_scientists-puzz-1357577.jpg\")
The unusual rock features an eye socket-like shape(Image: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/SWNS)<\/p>\n
The NASA rover was exploring an area called “Witch Hazel Hill” on the Jezero crater rim when it made the discovery. The finding is what is known as a “float rock,” meaning it was not found in its original location.<\/p>\n
The team is therefore working hard to understand where on Mars the rock formed<\/a>. Theories include it smashing onto the Red Planet’s surface as a meteorite, or being carried from elsewhere on Mars.<\/p>\n Skull Hill\u2019s dark colour is reminiscent of a type of space rock \u2013 an iron-nickel meteorite \u2013 found in Gale crater by its Curiosity rover. However, analysis of its chemical composition suggests the rock is “inconsistent with a meteorite origin,” NASA says.<\/p>\n Alternatively, the space agency says it could be igneous rock eroded from a nearby outcrop or ejected from an impact crater.<\/p>\n It is not the first time NASA’s Perseverance rover has stumbled across a strange “float rock”. Just last month, scientists were “astonished” by the discovery of a unique rock<\/a> on the Martian surface.<\/p>\n The rock, dubbed “St Paul’s Bay”, had a tough, bubbly texture with spheres ranging from pale brown at the edges to a grey hue in the middle.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_Nasa-Perseverance-rover-to-land-on-Mars.jpg\")
An artist impression of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars(Image: PA)<\/p>\n