Discoveries in The Crater
Mission scientists were intrigued by the abundance of rock outcrops dispersed throughout the crater, as well as the crater's soil, which appeared to be a mixture of coarse gray grains and fine reddish grains. Upon closer, in-situ examination of the outcrops, whose layers are no thicker than a finger, it was confirmed that Meridiani Planum was once the location of an ancient, somewhat acidic and salty sea, though much more information on the history of this area would start being collected more than three months later, when Opportunity visited the much larger crater Endurance to the east.
The hematite observed from orbit, whose presence decided the landing site in the first place, was found to be encased in millions of tiny hematite spherules, nicknamed "blueberries", by mission scientists, due to their shape, although they are actually much smaller than real blueberries. These concretions were found soon to be covering not just the outcrops in Eagle crater, but covered the plains beyond as well. The origin of the blueberries was quickly discovered. They appeared to be being eroded out of the outcrops by wind. Images from the rover's microscope discovered blueberries at several stages of this process, with most completely separated, but some still attached by a thin "stalk".
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