Space robot Opportunity probing mystery granules in Martian soil

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2004

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US space robot Opportunity, which landed on the surface of Mars about three weeks ago, is investigating mysterious round granules scattered in the Martian soil like blueberries in a muffin, NASA.

"Scientists are highly intrigued by these objects and may investigate them further," said the Mars mission team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

"The question is what is the distribution of these things within the soil," said mission scientist Steve Squyres. "At the surface it is easy. But we have no idea what lays underneath."

To learn what is underneath, the robot used one of its six wheels earlier this week to dig a small, shallow trench in the Martian soil.

"The idea was to dig a hole and to see what...