Bounce Rock is a football-sized primarily

pyroxene The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated Px) are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes have the general formula , where X represents ions of calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), iron ( ...

rock found within the

Meridiani Planum Meridiani Planum (alternatively Terra Meridiani) is a large plain straddling the equator of Mars. The plain sits on top of an enormous body of sediments that contains bound water. The iron oxide in the spherules is crystalline (grey) hematite (Fe ...

of the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

. 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 (rover), Spirit'' and ''Opportunity (rover), Opportunity'', exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the launch of the two rove ...

'' Opportunity'' 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 A meteorite is a rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheri ...

found on Earth known as shergottites, that are believed to have originated from Mars.

Bopolu (crater) Bopolu is an impact crater located within the Meridiani Planum extraterrestrial plain of Mars. Bopulu was seen by Opportunity rover, ''Opportunity'' rover in 2010 in the distance, and with some of its rim visible. Bopoplu was officially named in ...

was identified as a possible source of Bounce rock.

References

External links

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

See also

References

External links