Any opinions,
findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are
those of the developer, PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE, and do not necessarily
reflect those of the National Science Foundation.
To MARS with MER - RESEARCH/ers
RESEARCH/ers
Over the next few weeks, surpassing the nominal lifetime of the mission 7 times over, Sojourner rolled up to rocks like "Barnacle bill"... "Yogi"... "Scooby Doo" and "Wedge", "Ren" and "Stimpy."
Joy Crisp Rover Scientist JPL, NASA / Caltech
Most of the names have been cartoon characters or animals or things that the rocks are shaped like, so. it just makes it very easy to talk about the rocks and remember which ones they are when we’re discussing what to do with the rover or where the rover ended up.
In a wrap-up press conference, Matt Golombek said some of the images seemed to show that water had stayed liquid on Mars long enough to create boulders containing small, rounded rocks called "conglomerates."
Matt Golombek Project Scientist, Mars Pathfinder JPL, NASA / Caltech
And if that’s an old rock, that suggests, without question, that the environment on Mars was warmer and wetter in the past, to the point that liquid water was stable with the atmosphere. And as you know that’s the one requisite for life. That’s tremendously exciting.
