NASA's Curiosity Rover Detects Unusual Bump in Mars; Ends Up on Bedrock

After launching off its scientific mission to look for clues of ancient life on Mars last month, NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover has made its next significant find: a stretch of rock that's "possibly exposed bedrock" and looks like "garden pavers," which are landscaping pebbles akin to flagstones.

Perseverance has been sailing through the Jezero Crater, which is thought to be an ancient dried up lake bed measuring 30 miles in diameter and located near the planet's equator. Because scientists believe the area was previously swamped with water - and maybe teaming with ancient life - NASA is particularly interested in it.

Jerezo Crater

Experts are now closer than ever to fill up the many gaps in our understanding of how the region developed around 3.5 billion years ago. According to a NASA description of the area, experts believe Mars was teeming with river systems at the time, some of which spilled over to form a lake in the Jezero crater.

"Material like this, from the early days of this ancient lakebed, can help capture what that lake was like," the rover's Twitter update reads. "Spending a few days investigating..."

Some of the rocks at the Jezero Crater are estimated to be 3.6 billion years old. They could provide answers to various questions regarding what early Mars looked like and how it has changed since then.

Hail Séítah

Perseverance visited a new lookout overlooking a location known as "Sétah," a large sandy field of stratified rock - and maybe bedrock - earlier this month.

"It's an area of dunes with some good science targets in and around it," the rover tweeted at the time. "I'll spy a few from here, doing science from afar, then circle around and keep exploring."

Keep an eye out for updates. Perseverance will likely make even more intriguing discoveries as it travels across the Martian surface with the support of its quick - and much tiny - helicopter buddy.

How Rover's Robotic Arms Work

NASA's photographs, according to CNet, show the rover inspecting the "pavers" with the gear attached to its robotic arm.

In a rover explainer, the space agency said the arm allows the rover to work as a human geologist by enabling it to grip and use science gear with its 'hand' or turret. NASA said the rover's own 'hand tools' harvest rock cores, take microscopic photographs and study Martian rocks and soil's elemental composition and mineral makeup.

In February, NASA's robotic explorer arrived on Mars and began its first formal science mission. The Ingenuity chopper served as a scout. As the rover teases out the story of Mars' past history, the bedrock inquiry is a sign of science to come.

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