Bounce Rock is a football-sized primarily pyroxene rock found within the

Meridiani Planum The Meridiani Planum (alternately Meridiani plain, Meridiani plains, Terra Meridiani, or Terra Meridiani plains) is either a large plain straddling the equator of Mars and covered with a vast number of spherules containing a lot of iron oxide or ...

of the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

. It was discovered and observed by the

Mars Exploration Rover NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, '' Spirit'' and '' Opportunity'', exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the launch of the two rovers to explore the Martian surface ...

Opportunity Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * ...

'' in April 2004. The rock was named for it having been struck by ''Opportunity'' as the craft bounced to a stop during its landing stage. Bounce Rock bears a striking resemblance to a class of meteorites found on Earth known as shergottites, that are believed to have originated from Mars. Bopolu (crater) was identified as a possible source of Bounce rock.

References

External links

Nasa's Mars Exploration Program
Mars Exploration Rover mission Rocks on Mars {{crater-stub

See also

References

External links