Chocolate and Blueberries on Mars

On the once-thought desolate surface of our red neighbor planet the Martian Rover made a sweet discovery. While traversing around a crater in a previously unseen area, the rover came across a deep fissure filled with a chocolaty substance. When images of the substance were beamed back and analyzed by NASA scientists they confirmed it to be semi-sweet chocolate in a semi- liquid form.

"For years we at NASA have speculated and even hoped that there would be abundant natural chocolate on Mars." Said NASA spokesman Gil Mersey.

One thing that the folks at NASA did not expect was the presence of blueberries in close proximity to the chocolate. The Martian Exploration Rover Opportunity (MarExpRoOppo for short) took several samples. Preliminary tests all point to blueberries.

"At first we wondered if it was artificial blueberry filling made with high fructose corn syrup. Many ancient cultures told tales of high fructose corn syrup raining down on earth from Mars. But now we actually believe that it could be real all-natural blueberries. Why blueberries? We don't know yet. It seems to us that strawberries go better with chocolate. Or, hey, why not coconut?" said Mersey.

Rich chocolate at a near- earth location may make future space exploration much more feasible. On a manned space flight a crew of four or five astronauts would typically eat several boxes of chocolate per astronaut just in the lift-off stage of the flight. On a long space journey the problem of how to carry enough chocolate for the crew's extended needs has made manned space flight to the outer worlds almost seem impossible.

Plans are already underway to build a landing pad on Mars near the chocolate and blueberries. With such a landing, human explorers could stock up on the necessary supplies and take off for the outer reaches of the solar system.