Mysterious Atoko Point: A Unique Discovery on Mars by NASA’s Perseverance Rover

During a recent science campaign led by Brad Garczynski of Western Washington University, the team at Mount Washburn made an exciting discovery. While analyzing rocks brought down from the crater rim and potentially beyond, they found a diverse range of textures and compositions. Among the rocks, one in particular stood out and was nicknamed “Atoko Point”.

Atoko Point is a speckled, light-toned boulder that is distinct in appearance from the surrounding darker rocks. Analysis using Perseverance’s SuperCam and Mastcam-Z instruments revealed that the rock is composed of the minerals pyroxene and feldspar. Its size, shape, arrangement of mineral grains and crystals, and potentially its chemical composition, make Atoko Point unlike any other rocks in the area.

Scientists on the Perseverance team have speculated about the origins of Atoko Point, suggesting that the minerals may have been produced in a subsurface body of magma on the crater rim and exposed now. Alternatively, they consider the possibility that the boulder was created far away and transported to Jezero by Martian waters long ago. However it formed, the team believes that Atoko Point is just the first of many unique rocks they will encounter on the mission.

After leaving Mount Washburn, Perseverance traveled north to investigate