A shiny object that NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover spotted in early October has turned out to be a piece of benign fallen plastic from the rover’s landing gear, but no matter — NASA has unearthed other surprises on the Red Planet: A rock the rover examined and shot with lasers in September has turned up a surprisingly diverse composition and is unlike any previously analyzed from Mars.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=94707