Curiosity finds a melted space metal meteorite on the surface of Mars

[geronl]

Curiosity finds a melted space metal meteorite on the surface of Mars

Since it landed on the surface of the Red Planet in 2012, the Curiosity rover has made some rather surprising finds. In the past, this has included evidence that liquid water once filled the Gale Crater, the presence of methane and organic molecules today, curious sedimentary formations, and even a strange ball-shaped rock.

And most recently, Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) captured images of what appeared to be a ball of melted metal. Known as "Egg Rock" (due to its odd, ovoid appearance) this object has been identified as a small meteorites, most likely composed of nickel and iron.

Egg Rock was first noticed in an image that was snapped by Curiosity on Oct. 28th, 2016, (or Sol 153, the 153rd day of Curiosity's mission). The rover then snapped a two-frame portrait of the meteorite (seen below) two days later (on Sol 155) and studied it using its ChemCam's Remote Micro-Imager (RMI). This provided not only a close-up of the strange object, but also a chance for chemical analysis.

exerpt

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-11-curiosity-space-metal-meteorite-surface.html#jCp

I didn't know that could happen with such a thin atmosphere

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Check for the ESA logo?

[Smokin Joe]

Well, now we know what (mars) rover poo looks like...

[r9etb]

I didn't know that could happen with such a thin atmosphere

It's thick enough for parachutes to be effective for landers, so yeah.

And it's thin enough that a lot more metal (and other) meteorites survive the trip to the surface.

[geronl]

It's thick enough for parachutes to be effective for landers, so yeah.

barely, our landers had air bags or  rocket brakes

[Oceander]

Curiosity finds a melted space metal meteorite on the surface of Marsexerpt

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-11-curiosity-space-metal-meteorite-surface.html#jCp

I didn't know that could happen with such a thin atmosphere

If the atmosphere wasn't so thin it probably would have burned up completely before it hit the ground.  Meteors on Earth can have entry speeds well in excess of 45,000 mph so even in a thin atmosphere collisions with innocent air molecules would produce very high amounts of energy. 

[r9etb]

barely, our landers had air bags or  rocket brakes

True -- but it's enough to create weather on Mars.  And on this particular topic, it really doesn't take a lot of atmosphere to generate tremendous heat on objects moving through it at very high speed.