Opportunity rover takes microscopic images of Mars rock

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Opportunity rover takes microscopic images of Mars rock

NASA's Opportunity rover on Sunday sent back microscopic images of a bedrock outcropping within a crater on the Mars surface, giving scientists clues to the Red Planet' geologic past.

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NASA's Opportunity rover on Sunday sent back microscopic images of a bedrock outcropping within a crater on the Mars surface, giving scientists clues to the Red Planet' geologic past.

The bedrock outcropping, called Snout, is about 50 feet long and a foot high. It is the first bedrock outcropping seen on any Mars mission.

The images will help scientists understand what the environmentwas like when the rock was formed, said Jim Erickson, a scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

The rover will also analyze the outcropping by an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), which is designed to ascertainelements that make up rocks and soils.

Also on Sunday, NASA scientists were studying data that the Spirit rover had gathered on Saturday by drilling a tiny hole intoa rock called Adirondack. It is the first time a rover has deliberately carved Martian rock.

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