APOD: 2021 August 28 - Mars Rock Rochette

Good morning, Rallypoint. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is titled "Mars Rock Rochette." We return to the Perseverance rover today for a look at a particular rock on the floor of Jezero Crater dubbed "Rochette." I can see why they are interested in obtaining a sample from Rochette: it looks different. The color, the way it is fractured, and the extent that the image indicates a level of crystallization (especially in the grey areas closest to the front wheel of the rover). Visible crystals in rock form when both temperature and pressures are sufficient for them to do so. One type of rock we see on Earth that contains visible crystals is granite.

The rock looks somewhat granitic (to me), which would be an odd finding on the floor of an ancient lakebed/crater. On Earth, granites are igneous intrusions into continental crusts. So if they do wind up taking a sample, and that same has a high content of silicon and aluminum (the top two metallic oxides in most terrestrial granites), that could open up a new chapter in a Martian mystery for the planetary geologists to unravel.