The science team thinks that this rock has a texture unlike any seen in Jezero Crater before, and perhaps all of Mars. Our knowledge of its chemical composition is limited, but early interpretations are that igneous and/or metamorphic processes could have created its stripes.
Researchers are now calling the rock 'Freya Castle' - a nod to a craggy peak in the Grand Canyon - and are surmising that it came from somewhere at a higher elevation, according to NASA.
Earlier this summer, the probe chanced upon an arrow-shaped slab with tiny 'leopard spots' that could hold tantalizing evidence of microbes from billions of years ago, back when scientists believe there might have been water on the surface of Mars.
These are all incredible finds for Perseverance, which landed on Mars back in 2021 and whose current mission is to find any evidence of alien microbes that could have flourished on Mars when it was wetter and warmer.
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