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Feature type | Rock |
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Coordinates | 19°20′N 33°33′W / 19.33°N 33.55°W |
Barnacle Bill is a 40-centimetre (16 in) rock on Mars in Ares Vallis. It was the first rock on Mars analyzed by the Sojourner rover using its Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer. The encounter occurred during Sol 3 of the Mars Pathfinder mission on the surface of Mars and took ten hours to complete.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/PIA00819left-MarsRock-BarnacleBill.gif/200px-PIA00819left-MarsRock-BarnacleBill.gif)
Early analysis of data sent from Sojourner led scientists to speculate that the rock was andesite.
The name was inspired in mission scientists by barnacle-like structures on the rock that appeared in transmitted photos.
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