This morning NASA issued a public reply regarding the on going legal issue I posted about the other day. The agency is sticking by their earlier finding, that the rock which mysteriously appeared in front of the rover, is in fact a rock.

PopSci has more information about the story as it develops.

This is an ongoing legal matter and we are limited in what we can discuss about the filing. However, NASA has been publicly sharing our ongoing research into the rock dubbed “Pinnacle Island” since we originally released the images from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity earlier this month. The rock, which NASA is studying to better understand its chemical composition, also was widely discussed during a Jan. 22 NASA Television news conference. As we do with all our scientific research missions, NASA will continue to discuss any new data regarding the rock and other images and information as new data becomes available.

The video at the bottom of the page is worth viewing as well. Plenty of information about accomplishments of robotic missions ongoing on the Red Planet.