‘Freya Castle’ - A Rock Like No other Discovered on the Martian Planet of Rocks

A couple of weeks ago Perseverance rover was trundling around the Jezero cater when sharp eyed scientists spotted something interesting in the distance on the low rez hazcam image , their curiosity piqued Percy headed over to take a closer look and discovered a rock unique not only to its surrounding rocks but to anything we've seen in the decades of rover exploration , scientists named the black and white Zebra striped rock ‘Freya Castle’ even though it looks nothing like a Castle or a Freya .... Scientists !

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. Since Freya Castle is a loose stone that is clearly different from the underlying bedrock, it has likely arrived here from someplace else, perhaps having rolled downhill from a source higher up. This possibility has us excited, and we hope that as we continue to drive uphill, Perseverance will encounter an outcrop of this new rock type so that more detailed measurements can be acquired.
science.nasa.gov...

There's a mystery as to where the rock came from , all I can say is it's life Jim but not as we know it.

Closer look , pretty sure it's hovering.

a reply to: gortex

Nice rock.

Great thread, cheers for this

a reply to: gortex

I didn't really see how it rolled down hill to get there. It looks to be sitting on a small mound.

a reply to: gortex



Ummm…this castle rock has smooth rounded surfaces…on Earth rocks have smooth rounded surfaces from the action of water…as in a river…on a shoreline…or through glaciation…also from wind blown sand etc…

It makes me wonder if this was a deposition…merely because it’s the only apparent example of it’s geological composition evident…

Very curious…







YouSir

a reply to: YouSir

Good lack of points, it being so rounded. Don't forget the wind erosion is 1/100 that of Earth. Mars now has about 1/100 of the atmospheric pressure of Earth.

Very gneiss!
At least if it were on Earth, that would be my guess.
Forms when intrusive igneous rocks, like granite are reheated and squished under pressure.
That makes the minerals sort themselves out a little, forming layers.

Or an unusual poryphry. Where a mineral crystallizes inside basalt while it’s cooling.
Forming crystal structures that are very visible.

Did you see they little pyramid front left of the main character)
That’s why it’s hovering, I’m sure of it!

a reply to: spacedoubt

I had my rock identifier app have a look at the photo. it agrees with you, gneiss.

It goes on to identify the rock to the right of the main one as a fossil. It doesn't go into what kind of fossil.

Not certain how reliable the app is. It came from from the google play store.

a reply to: BeyondKnowledge3

Ah thats cool, what’s the name of the app?
I have one for plants, and one for birds.
Yeah kind of accurate, but you still have to question the results sometimes.

a reply to: gortex



⭐+🇺🇸

a reply to: spacedoubt

Rock Identifier: Stone Id.

I have used it a few times. Seems accurate enough when you can get a good picture. I have a plant app but google lense can do the plants better than it can, along with text translations including QR codes, and visual searches. I need to try google lense on that rock. It might do rocks to.

Edit: Google lense found every website that rock photo is on and many similar rock photos. Doesn't seem to try to identify the material of the rock though.

originally posted by: gortex
Closer look , pretty sure it's hovering.

Probably not hovering but it looks like it. I see yellow of a sulfurous nature. That is NOT Pyrite (fools gold) but it has some characteristics of sulfur compounds in the rock here in TN.

Now what if it was an egg of some kind and that is calcium instead?

I would sure like to see this analyzed.

a reply to: gortex

Perhaps I missed it, and it's hard to tell from the picture, but how big is this rock? Are we talking pebble sized, or boulder sized, or building sized...what?

It does look surprisingly light; doesn't appear to be pushed down into the sand at all. (but again, I can't tell how big it is. If it's only a few ounces, that's one thing, but if it's several tons (or more), then that's a whole other matter).

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: gortex

Perhaps I missed it, and it's hard to tell from the picture, but how big is this rock? Are we talking pebble sized, or boulder sized, or building sized...what?

It does look surprisingly light; doesn't appear to be pushed down into the sand at all. (but again, I can't tell how big it is. If it's only a few ounces, that's one thing, but if it's several tons (or more), then that's a whole other matter).

Great point about it not being pushed down in the sand. It sure is light.


I wonder does it have some kind of antigravity properties when you take Goretex's comment on appearing to hover.

a reply to: gortex

Not sure about it hovering - maybe just a bit of an optical illusion due to the shadow - but its certainly like nothing I've seen previously from Mars. And wouldn't it be reasonable for there to be some smaller fragments of a similar look near it?
As FCD said for context it would be good to know how big it is.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

From the picture in the OP I think it's a large rock , perhaps a couple of lbs , about the size you'd pick up and throw at the police if you're in England.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: gortex

Perhaps I missed it, and it's hard to tell from the picture, but how big is this rock? Are we talking pebble sized, or boulder sized, or building sized...what?

20 cm (8 inches) long.