NASA’s Perseverance rover, exploring the ancient Jezero crater on Mars, has encountered a unique light-toned boulder. This discovery, made while traversing the Neretva Vallis—a dried river delta that once flowed into the crater—is the first of its kind on Martian soil.
During its journey to the crater rim, Perseverance avoided rough terrain by taking a shortcut through a dune field, eventually reaching Mount Washburn. This hill was covered with various boulders, unlike anything previously observed on Mars. Among these, a small light-toned boulder, approximately 18 inches wide and 14 inches tall, stood out against the darker rocks.
“The diversity of textures and compositions at Mount Washburn was an exciting discovery for the team,” said Brad Garczynski of Western Washington University, co-leader of the current Perseverance mission. The team nicknamed the intriguing boulder “Atoko Point” and conducted tests revealing it contains minerals like pyroxene and feldspar.
These minerals, common in Earth’s crust and on the moon, suggest that the boulder might have originated from magma beneath Mars’ surface, later exposed by erosion. Some scientists believe the boulder could have been transported by an ancient river to its current location on Washburn Hill.
NASA concluded that similar rocks likely exist elsewhere on Mars, highlighting the significance of this discovery for understanding the planet’s geological history.
