{"id":66314,"date":"2025-05-01T18:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T18:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/66314\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T18:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T18:10:09","slug":"nasa-perserverance-rover-snaps-photo-of-skull-on-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/66314\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA Perserverance Rover Snaps Photo of ‘Skull’ on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>The object that caught the attention of NASA on \u2018Skull Hill\u2019, Mars. <\/p>\n

A dark, jagged rock formation on Mars, nicknamed Skull Hill, has caught the attention of NASA scientists. Spotted by the Perseverance rover on April 11 while descending a slope known as Witch Hazel Hill, the rock stands in stark contrast to the surrounding pale terrain of Jezero Crater.<\/p>\n

Perseverance is currently exploring an area dubbed Port Anson, which features a mix of light and dark rock outcrops and what NASA calls \u201cfloat\u201d rocks\u2014geological fragments likely displaced by ancient floods or impact events. Skull Hill appears to be one of these floats. Its sharp angles, dark tone, and pitted surface have made it a standout subject for the mission team.<\/p>\n

Early speculation considered the possibility that Skull Hill might be a meteorite, similar in appearance to iron-rich space rocks found by the Curiosity rover in Gale Crater. However, Perseverance\u2019s SuperCam instrument analyzed the rock\u2019s composition and ruled that out. The chemical signature did not match what scientists would expect from a meteorite.<\/p>\n

Instead, researchers are now leaning toward a volcanic origin. Minerals like pyroxene and olivine, which are known to darken igneous rocks, may be responsible for Skull Hill\u2019s coloration. The rock could have been ejected by a nearby volcanic event or exposed by erosion over time. The pits visible on its surface may have formed either from internal erosion of weaker fragments or from wind-blown dust gradually carving into the stone.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrater rims\u2014you gotta love \u2019em,\u201d says Katie Morgan<\/a>, Perseverance\u2019s project scientist at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. \u201cThe last four months have been a whirlwind, and we still feel that Witch Hazel Hill has more to tell us.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent months, Perseverance has ramped up its scientific activity. Since December, it has collected five new rock samples, closely analyzed seven others, and targeted more than 80 spots with its laser-based tools\u2014its fastest research pace since landing in 2021. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Mars Perseverance selfie along with the Ingenuity Drone that is now defunct. <\/p>\n

Back in October, Perseverance captured a clear view of the Martian landscape showing incredible blue rocks<\/a> on the dusty surface that raise pivotal questions about the Red Planet\u2019s complex history.<\/p>\n

While the ultimate goal is to return Martian samples to Earth through the Mars Sample Return mission, delays, and funding issues continue to stall that plan. <\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Perseverance continues to capture mind-blowing imagery. Last month, it filmed a rare spectacle of two dust devils battling for domination.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The object that caught the attention of NASA on \u2018Skull Hill\u2019, Mars. A dark, jagged rock formation on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3844],"tags":[790,33747,33748,453,70,33749,413,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-66314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-mars","9":"tag-marsperseverancerover","10":"tag-perseverance","11":"tag-rock","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-skullhill","14":"tag-space","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}