Mars rover finds ‘bright object’

WASHINGTON—NASA’s Curiosity rover has uncovered a “bright object” in the red soil of Mars that might be a part of the robotic explorer that broke off, the US space agency said.

“The rover team decided to refrain from using the rover’s robotic arm on October 8 due to the detection of a bright object on the ground that might be a piece from the rover,” NASA said Monday in a statement.

“Curiosity is acquiring additional imaging of the object to aid the team in identifying the object and assessing possible impact, if any, to sampling activities.”

The rover had parked at a sand pit late last week, where it was to scoop up soil in order to clean and test its geological sampling hardware.

Curiosity is on a two-year mission to explore the Red Planet and learn whether conditions there might have been able to support life in the past.

The $2.5 billion craft landed in Gale Crater on August 6, opening a new chapter in the history of interplanetary exploration.

Other Stories:

Risky behavior starts young on web—survey

Office bullying video sparks outcry in Singapore

Mobiles offer financial lifeline to Asian migrants—study

Metro’s traffic situation may now be monitored via smart phones, tablets

Recent Stories:

AirAsia net profit falls nearly 40% in 1st quarter _{45 mins elapsed}

Asian expat workers end rare UAE strike—company _{1 hour elapsed}

Ex-Dapitan mayor gets 6-year imprisonment for pocketing intelligence funds _{2 hours elapsed}

Aquino appoints Malolos judge Ringpis-Liban as associate justice of tax court _{2 hours elapsed}

Cayetano ready to accept backing of peers for Senate president _{2 hours elapsed}

Twitter tightens security after high-profile breaches _{2 hours elapsed}

Sex harassment raps readied vs ex-ambassador to Kuwait _{2 hours elapsed}

Rinehart loses $7B but still Australia’s richest _{2 hours elapsed}

Tags: Mars , NASA , technology