The precarious orientation of rocks due to gravity on Mars
It’s remarkable how different gravity on Mars can shape the landscape in surprising ways. On Earth, it’s unlikely that you’d see a rock perched as precariously as the one shown here, as the force of gravity would have quickly precipitated it towards the ground, altering such an extraordinary natural spectacle. Fortunately, it seems that there is currently no threat of such a fall on Mars. However, in the long term, the rock could eventually detach from its perch due to meteorological and wind erosion, which in all likelihood contributed to the formation of this exceptional structure in the first place. The same principle applies to the snake-head rock on the right of the image
The sudden appearance of an object on Mars has caused much confusion
Most of these unusual images of Mars stand out for the remarkable weirdness of what they represent. However, in the case of the following image, it’s not so much the object itself that’s fascinating, but rather the mystery of its appearance in this precise spot. After all, it was nowhere in sight before, so how did it suddenly appear in front of the camera? According to NASA, there is a simple explanation for this phenomenon, similar to that which applies to all the other strange photos of Mars. It seems that it didn’t appear out of nowhere, but was, in all likelihood, moved by the Opportunity rover as it rolled over it. Thus, it is unlikely that this object is a jelly doughnut, as some initially speculated.