Curiosity recently stumbled upon a piece of plastic on the ground, something which researchers really weren’t expecting.
Don’t start thinking Martians have invented plastic or something like this – the piece is probably just debris from the shuttle or Curiosity itself. However, scientists are cautious and want to analyze it first before jumping to conclusions. To proceed thoroughly, the team is continuing the investigation for another day before deciding whether to resume processing of the sample in the scoop. Plans include imaging of surroundings with the Mastcam.
Who knows, as unlikely as it is, it might actually be a new mineral phase, one which could help us understand more about how the red planet was formed and evolved through geologic eras.
Andrei is no scientist, but from an early age, he has been fascinated by science; that's why he went to college, and signed up for Geophysics. Feeling that there's a huge gap between science and average people, he rallied TP, started ZME Science, and gave it a green twist too. 
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Published on Fri, Oct 19, 2012 by Mihai Andrei
Post filled in: Space