NASA solves mystery of Martian “jelly doughnut”

Location of “Jelly Doughnut” rock “Pinnacle Island” before it appeared in front of the rover in early January 2014. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ

NASA scientists have solved the mystery of the Martian “jelly doughnut”, dubbed Pinnacle Island, found on the planet’s surface that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

The answer is rather less enigmatic, with scientists saying that the “doughnut” is just a small piece broken from a larger rock and moved by the wheel of the Opportunity Rover in early January.

This theory was confirmed by analysing recent images of the larger original rock, which was missing a piece about the right size.

Opportunity Deputy Principal Investigator Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis said:

“Once we moved Opportunity a short distance, after inspecting Pinnacle Island, we could see directly uphill an overturned rock that has the same unusual appearance. We drove over it. We can see the track. That’s where Pinnacle Island came from.”

The next mission for Opportunity is to drive south and uphill to investigate exposed rock layers on the slope.