“We call it ‘Cacao,'” wrote the Curiosity team from Earth. Space rock is made up of iron and nickel.
NASA ‘s Curiosity rover has found another meteorite on Mars and in this case it is composed mainly of iron and nickel.
The members of the team have published on Twitter an image of the object, which they have named ‘Cacao’ and which has a width of 30 centimeters.
Rock. Rock. Rock. Rock. Rock. Rock. METEORITE!
It’s not uncommon to find meteorites on Mars – in fact, I’ve done it a few times! (see 🧵) But a change in scenery’s always nice.
This one’s about a foot wide and made of iron-nickel. We’re calling it “Cacao.” pic.twitter.com/I37HiGjN2t
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) February 2, 2023
Meteor history
The car-sized Curiosity landed in the 154-kilometre-wide Gale Crater on Mars in August 2012 on a search to determine whether the area might have supported Earth-like life long ago.
Since September 2014, Curiosity has been climbing the flanks of Mount Sharp, a massive massif that rises about 5.5 kilometers into the sky from the center of Gale.
To date, Curiosity has traveled 29.47 km on Mars . The rover has stumbled upon other meteorites during this trip.
“Here’s another meteorite I found in 2016. It’s called ‘Egg Rock’ aka the golf ball,” read a Twitter post associated with the new metallic rock
Here’s another meteorite I found in 2016. It’s called “Egg Rock” aka the golf ball
📷: https://t.co/kgrhANbed2 (11/2/16) pic.twitter.com/gZC61RFZxc
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) February 2, 2023
“And while my team calls this 7 foot long meteorite ‘Lebanon,’ I call it THE BEAST,” another tweet states.
And while my team calls this 7-foot-long meteorite “Lebanon,” I call it THE BEAST
📷: https://t.co/206kK2lxMc (7/15/14) pic.twitter.com/BdCLATiNAb
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) February 2, 2023
Curiosity discovered Lebanon, or The Beast, in May 2014, though NASA didn’t release photos of the large rock until July of that year. The Beast and two nearby stones were the first meteorites Curiosity found on the Red Planet, Space.com reports .