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UNIVERSE TODAY
Summary - (Mar 9, 2004) When Opportunity sent back the first images from the surface of Mars, there was a strange object that puzzled amateurs and scientists alike - it looked like a bunny. After some analysis, scientists agreed that the object was probably about 4-5 cm long. Later images showed that the object had moved with the wind, ending up underneath the rover. This has led observers to believe that it's a piece of the rover's airbag that tore off and has been drifting around the crater, pushed by the wind.
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Like a rabbit in a hat, the identity of an oddity that looks like "bunny ears" in a picture from Mars has eluded the science and engineering teams.
The public, also fascinated with the mysterious object, has asked in a slew of e-mails: What is it?
It is a yellowish object measuring about 4 to 5 centimeters (about 2 inches) long that made its debut when Opportunity's eyes welcomed Earth to a new neighborhood on Mars in her mission success panoramic image. Meridiani Planum is a landscape unlike any other stop on our decades-long tour of the red planet. Still, it wasn't the conspicuous bedrock outcropping near the horizon that initially fascinated many people. It was the "bunny ears."
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