IMAGE DETAILS

Mars Report Ref: MIA047

Report date: March 2021

Research Status: Open - Possible artefact

Description: Hollowed Building Block
Approximate size: 15-20 cm

Mission: Curiosity Rover
Location: Gale Crater

Identified by: Rami Bar Ilan

Image date: Sol 1448 Sep 2016
Image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Graphics/image editing: M. J. Craig

NASA Image sources: https://mars.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/01448/mcam/1448MR0071730430703097E01_DXXX.jpg

All images for Sol 526: 

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw-images/?order=sol+desc%2Cinstrument_sort+asc%2Csample_type_sort+asc%2C+date_taken+desc&per_page=50&page=0&mission=msl&begin_sol=1448&end_sol=1448

​​OBSERVATIONS

This object is fairly close to the rover and therefore due to the clarity of the image, the rectilinear shape is quite unambiguous, at least from the angle we can see.

​POTENTIAL FOR AN ARTIFICIAL ORIGIN

1. Displays some symmetry consistent with a possibly carved or manufactured object.

2. Has two elements possibly indicating an artificial origin a) A 'stepped' character to the left, and b) Two parallel, possibly hollowed, sections.

COMMON EXPLANATION

A random rock that has some resemblance to a honed building block, but which appears so only because of the angle of imaging.​

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