Holes made by Insects ?

[eric44]

Were these holes made by Insects ?




Sol 778

0778MR0033690000403994E01_DXXX

[thewatcher]

MSLS laser cannon.

[eric44]

Is there a reference where it is said thaty these holes were made by MSL Lazer ?

[Marsrocks]

Eric,

Nicely spotted. I have checked this out as the holes do look like ant holes. They are made by the chemcam laser.




marsanomalies.proboards.com/thread/401/holes

marsanomalies.proboards.com/thread/376/holes-soil-resolved

[eric44]

Thanks for the info.
An this, was it also made by one of Curiosity's tools ?

[Marsrocks]

Eric, you have an excellent eye for what should not be there. This pile of soil was not geologically caused.

But, yes - Curiosity is the creator of this anomaly as well.

They are calling this the "dump pile." It is soil dumped from the rover.

astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sol-767-update-on-curiosity-from-msl-scientist-lauren-edgar-dump-pile

www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/10171041-curiosity-update-sols-764-781.html

The Phoenix lander created a similar (but higher) dump pile way back when.

[eric44]

Thanks Marsrocks. You are really well informed ! ;-)

This one also attracted my attention.
The stone on the right side seems to have been cleaned by some activity and as the trace is not circular it seemed to me that it couldn't have been done by Curiosity.

[Marsrocks]

Eric, your find is right on the outskirts of a rock formation called "Windjana," where Curiosity did a lot of work. Take a look at this graphic of what the rover was doing there:

www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/mars/curiositys-work-at-windjana.html

It used a hammerdrill and brush in this area, which may have shaken loose some sediment from the surrounding rocks - including perhaps, your target, per this article:

redplanet.asu.edu/?p=6748

redplanet.asu.edu/?tag=mount-remarkable

www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00614/0614ML0025940030301800D01_DXXX.html

www.midnightplanets.com/web/MSL/image/00612/0612MR0025860000401053E01_DXXX.html


mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=NRB_452271417EDR_F0311330NCAM00353M_&s=617

mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1630

I can't say for sure this is exactly what happened, as that exact rock does not appear to be the target. However, when hunting anomalies, I tend to credit disturbances as being more likely caused by the rover in areas where I know the rover has been messing around. Often rovers will run over things, and leave marks in the soil that look very interesting, in areas where it is working. But since I am not an insider on the mission, it becomes too difficult for me to know for sure - (another part of the rover or rover mechanism may have easily come in contact with it, for instance) and so I cannot exclude any mark in a known rover work area as being a mark made by the rover.

[eric44]

Marsrocks great thanks for your explanation !