Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Nuzzling up to the first outcrop of bedrock ever examined on Mars, NASA's rover Opportunity took more than 100 photographs over the weekend and gathered readings on the minerals in the rock, mission managers said Sunday.
"We finished pretty much a great day," said James Erickson, one of the mission managers.
Up to now, scientists have had close looks only at loose rocks on the martian surface. The Opportunity landed in a small crater with exposed bedrock along the inner rim. Because the bedrock formed at that location, it will offer evidence of the site's geological history. Scientists are further intrigued because the bedrock consists of thin layers, which may be volcanic ash or sedimentary rock deposited by water or wind.
If the rock turns out to be sedimentary rock formed by the flow of water, that would support the theory that Mars was once much warmer and wetter than it is today.
Slain wife's body unearthed after 57 yearsALBANY, N.Y. - A body found buried at a construction site has been identified as that of a woman missing for more than 57 years, police said Sunday.
Construction workers excavating a vacant lot Friday uncovered a 55-gallon drum containing the body of Emma Moccio, 71. Police believe she was killed by her husband, who had worked at a marble and stone business that once stood on the lot.
An autopsy found that Moccio had been strangled, Albany police Detective James Miller said.
Moccio disappeared Nov. 17, 1946, as police were looking for her husband, Ralph, in the shooting of a co-worker. Detectives went to interview Emma Moccio, but were never able to find her, Miller said.
Police did find Ralph Moccio, who was later imprisoned for killing a Jersey City, N.J., woman in 1937. Ralph Moccio, known as Michael Manzia in New Jersey, committed suicide while in prison there, authorities said.
Investigators identified the woman by a bracelet she was wearing that was engraved with her maiden name.