Mars 'Bunny' hops to new location
NASA writes, "After looking at pictures of Opportunity's lander up-close, I think we might have, again, spotted the bunny. It looks as if the object has been blown under the north-facing egress ramp."
Johnson and his colleagues believe that a light wind whirling from the north over Opportunity's Challenger Memorial Station landing site could have transported the article. Its small size indicates that it would be easily carried by even a light wind. The three-color Pancam images acquired of the object as part of the mission success panorama even showed some evidence that the object moved slightly between images from the gentle wind. Johnson estimates that the breeze pushed the "bunny ears" an estimated 5 to 6 meters. Rense.com report...
JPL states. "Our team believes that this odd-looking feature is a piece of soft material that definitely came from our vehicle," said Rob Manning, lead engineer for entry, descent and landing. "We cannot say exactly where it came from but we can say that there are several possibilities: cotton insulation, Vectran covers and wraps from the airbag, zylon bridle tensioning ties, or felt insulation from the gas generators.... The list goes on. We do not think this is parachute material, however, due to its color).
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