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Which I'd imagine shouldn't ever happen, and that's why they're taking a very cautious approach to using the robotic arm until they can rule that out.

I wouldn't worry. As anyone who has dismantled technology can tell you, usually anything up to 90% of the small screws in any piece of equipment are entirely unnecessary, and in many cases seem to have manifested themselves spontaneously out of the vacuum. Or possibly the hoover.

The best theory I've seen is that it's a piece of foil tape that's crumbled in the harsh cold. Hopefully that's all it is.

There does appear to be a screw hole with a missing screw, though: http://postimage.org/image/ouvupuniz/full/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjEgTuCFLU4&t=0m36s

Nice find!

Could possibly wire insulation: http://imgur.com/a/HR9DS#0

With a jovial tone, I believe this is a case of Martian littering. Looks like part of a Martian Chips packet to me.