The dark blocks that occasionally appear in the rover’s path are called floating rocks, and the team is looking higher into the hills to determine their origin. As intriguing as these blocks and boulders are, they pose a serious challenge for the rover’s drivers. They managed to get the rover to its intended stopping point, which is a significant achievement in itself. The mixture of large rocks and sand is completely unfavorable for movement. The risk of the rover shifting at the wrong moment, and the robotic arm colliding with a rock that the instrument is currently exploring, would be too great.