NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover: Discovers Weird 'Hood Ornament'

A close-up of a shiny, wind-sculpted rock photographed by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Jan. 30, 2013. 

CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has photographed a shiny, metallic-looking object that bears a passing resemblance to a door handle or a hood ornament.

However, the Curiosity rover has not stumbled onto evidence of an ancient civilization that took the family van to Olympus Mons for vacation.

The object is simply a rock that the wind has sculpted into an interesting shape, scientists said.

Curiosity scientists stated that "The shiny surface suggests that this rock has a fine grain and is relatively hard."

"Hard, fine-grained rocks can be polished by the wind to form very smooth surfaces."

A shiny-looking Martian rock is visible in this image taken by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) during the mission's 173rd Martian day, or sol (Jan. 30, 2013).

CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems