QUESTION:
Would it be possible to locate Barnacle Bill's place of origin? Would we
have to wait until Surveyor completes its mission to trace the beginnings of
the flood plain in which the rock has been found?

ANSWER from Wendy Calvin on July 11, 1997:
Viking Images already give us a good idea of the extent of the source region
for the Ares outwash plain on which Pathfinder sits.

Because the source region is quite large, it is unlikely that we
will ever pinpoint the exact spot where Barnacle Bill originated.

What we hope is that the Surveyor mission will give us compositional
information and we will be able to find regions that have a similar
composition to Barnacle Bill.