NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover

Well well, this one is certainly different from the last few around the rim interior! This stuff doesn't seem like a good candidate for coring, given the evident weakness/crumbliness.

When looking at some of the LED-lit night-time imagery of this new one, I was immediately reminded of the sandstone/conglomerate-type rocks we analyzed down on the delta fan (Ouzel Falls and Thunderbolt Peak), but those were evidently more "solid" in bulk, despite their "messy", pebbly appearance (or so I considered them at the time!)

The friability of this latest one is pretty unprecedented - we've definitely seen prior examples of targeted rock breaking under the abrasion bit, but in a much cleaner way (Malgosa Crest, taken on the edge of Neretva Vallis, was the last one to do this, but that one has distinct vugs, and was definitely a harder material; Elkwallow Gap, from the delta front/"bacon strip" region, was surprisingly weak, but broke clean in two - and that only after digging into the rock a fair distance, it seems).

I find it particularly interesting that the points where the rock is most brittle/cracked align very neatly with darkest material in the patch... and there is quite a bit more to see here besides. This mission is just so much fun. Happy terrestrial New Year!