Many people have recently associated with the phrase "the mystery of Mars" a mysterious find that looks like a donut. Some are starting to talk about alien life on Mars or about the shells thrown by little green men. One of the latest versions suggests that there is an exotic mushroom on Mars, and this idea led to a lawsuit against NASA.
It all started when a strange stone suddenly appeared in Opportunity's photos. Scientists named the rock "Pinnacle Island," and they thought the most likely scenario was that the rover knocked the rock out from under the wheels and dropped it in its new location as the rover turned.
Another idea is that the rock is part of the ejection - a piece of rock that fell near the rover. Project lead researcher Steve Squyres described the stone as “white in a circle on the outside, with a dark red spot in the middle. It even looks like a donut with a filling."
Neurologist and self-proclaimed astrobiologist Dr. Rhawn Joseph has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court in Northern California claiming the white stone is biological in nature and is seeking an order to force NASA to "study a biological specimen on Mars," and says NASA unable to examine the stone thoroughly enough.
On the one hand, it is a stone. Squires said Pinnacle Island contains a lot of sulfur and magnesium, including a double dose of manganese, like anything else they've seen on Mars.
Secondly, the team has already provided everything it received for this stone.
Third, Joseph is not the "discoverer" of this rock. The MER (Mars Exploration Rover) team is him and she provided full details.
So where did this mysterious stone come from? On many forums, users put forward all sorts of versions, and one is accompanied by a photo where a similar element is just missing on the surface:
Promotional video:
Another set of images highlight the possible place where the stone might be coming from, but the changes in lighting are thought provoking:
Of course, the MER team would like to quickly unravel the mystery of where this stone came from, as well as the “flower” of Mars and the piece of plastic. Chances are, biology played no role in the mysterious appearance.
