# The 'Jelly Donut' rock on Mars **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311 "2014-01-20T21:20:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311/21 "2014-01-23T13:43:26Z")
Until told otherwise, my theory is that something threw a rock at the rover. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311/22 "2014-01-23T18:28:43Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Until told otherwise, my theory is that something threw a rock at the rover. 😉 \Yankee go home!\ ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311/23 "2014-01-23T21:23:50Z")
A few years ago I watched a presentation by a scientist from JPL about Spirit and Opportunity at a local air and space museum. It was a very interesting presentation and it was funny to see how she (and her other controllers) had assigned personalities to the rovers. Spirit was the hard worker and had to really work for its discoveries, but she described Opportunity as “Little Miss Perfect” because it seemed that she was always in exactly the perfect place to make discoveries. When Opportunity landed on Mars it actually bounced into an impact crater, one of only a few on the plain where it landed. The presenter described this as “an interplanetary hole in one” and was such a stroke of luck that Opportunity was making discoveries from the moment it woke up. After it came out of its crater it found its heat shield - something the scientists never expected to see but they were able to analyze it for future missions. I can’t remember everything she said about the good fortune Opportunity had, but it was clear that it’s had more than its share of lucky discoveries that just seem to present themselves to that rover. This unique rock just appearing is yet another example of the good fortune Opportunity has had. Little Miss Perfect indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311/24 "2014-01-23T21:51:42Z")
I did some digging about the rover personalities and found this article celebrating the 1 year anniversary on Mars: [Top scientist looks back on Martian marathon](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6762529/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.UuGKnNLnbDc). This is not the same scientist I saw but the sentiment is identical. > [@](#): > > Spirit, I think of as being the tough, hard-working, blue-collar rover. Spirit’s the one that had to drive four kilometers. Spirit’s the one that had to climb into the Columbia Hills. Spirit is banged up, scratched up, dinged up. Spirit was the one that had the gimpy wheel for a while, though that seems to be getting better. Spirit has been the one that’s really had the tough ride, and Spirit has had to work very, very hard for every major scientific discovery. Even the rocks are hard. You’ve got to grind really hard with the RAT [Rock Abrasion Tool] to get into them. > Opportunity, I call her “Little Miss Perfect.” Everything’s gone right for that vehicle. The vehicle comes to rest, and bang, there’s layered outcrop — salty, sedimentary rock, 8 meters away. Literally the first picture to come down has got this outcrop in it. We just waltz right over to it, everything’s there, the rock is nice and soft. You grind into it easily with the RAT. You get out onto the plains and it’s like a parking lot. It’s just smooth, hard-packed sand as far as you can see to the horizon — the most benign driving surface you can possibly imagine. Opportunity doesn’t have a scratch on it. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311/25 "2014-01-23T22:06:14Z")
Am I the only one that thinks that doesn’t look the least bit like a jelly donut? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311/26 "2014-01-23T22:08:00Z")
It looks like the jelly donut at the bottom of the bag, an hour or so after purchase. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311/27 "2014-01-24T16:52:35Z")
In the first photo, there is a brown ring on the ground which is thicker on one side like a croissant with the thicker side to the “north”. In the second photo there is a croissant shaped rock in the same place but with the thick side on the “south”. It’s on top of the brown ring but not covering it exactly, it’s about half it’s width off center of the ring. It seems like the rock was buried where the ring is but flipped over and the ring in the second photo is actually the hole where the rock was before it was flipped. On the other hand, it doesn’t look like a hole. On the third hand, we can’t see very much of it and the part we can see would be the shallowest part of the hole. So, I’m none wiser but the ring and rock are too identically shaped to be coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311/28 "2014-01-24T17:35:38Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > It looks like the jelly donut at the bottom of the bag, an hour or so after purchase. I understand all the individual words here but the arrangement makes no sense. Still in the bag an hour after you bought them? What? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311/29 "2014-01-24T17:49:35Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I understand all the individual words here but the arrangement makes no sense. > Still in the bag an hour after you bought them? What? What? You don’t buy in bulk? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311/30 "2014-01-24T17:57:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Scientists Are Mystified I’ve known a few scientists. I can’t imagine any of them admitting to being mystified. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311/31 "2014-01-24T18:07:14Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve known a few scientists. I can’t imagine any of them admitting to being mystified. Eh? We get mystified all the time. It’s part of the job. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311/32 "2014-01-24T18:13:34Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Eh? We get mystified all the time. It’s part of the job. Howabout dumbfounded? 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jelly-donut-rock-on-mars/679311.md?page=1)