NASA’s Mars rover has discovered strange debris!

Many exploration missions are organized on the planet Mars in order to analyze the elements present on its surface. Recently, NASA’s Mars rover, Perseverance, made the discovery of several strange debris during his daily expeditions of exploration. The waste found appears to have come from a source known to scientists, and photos were taken to confirm their guesses.

In reality, one of the objects seen by the rover is a string which appears to be from one of the components of Perseverance’s landing device. However, knowing the exact section to which said cord belongs is not obvious since many elements have intervened to a soft landing of the rover.

Videos and numerous photo samples were therefore analyzed by the researchers in order to prove the provenance of these objects. Stuart Atkinsonan image editing specialist, took part in interpreting the images sent by Perseverance.

But where do these extraterrestrial objects come from?

The small piece of waste could be one of the remaining pieces of the parachute which allowed the landing of Perseverance. According to another hypothesis, the cord might come from the damping module from the rear compartment, which also helped bring the rover safely down to Mars.

Thanks to the obstacle avoidance camera, the size of the cord could be estimated. The scientists compared on the photos, the size of said cord to other components of the Martian vehicle. It thus turned out that the string has a very small size. The Martian wind must have sent this rope close to Perseverance. This theory was confirmed since the string disappeared from radar a few days later.

“Our sharpest shot highlights the cord in close-up. Notice how the rope is tiny compared to the wheels of the rover.”

NASA researchers

Many other objects have also been sighted by Perseverance

Note that the rover also found several objects abandoned during its landing, including his own parachute.

Furthermore, the helicopter Ingenuity flew over the debris discovery areas to take pictures of the broken rear hull.

“In several years, the inhabitants of Mars will collect all the objects that we have left on their planet and display them in museums. Exactly as we do with the remains of prehistoric animals. »

Stuart Atkinson, Image Editing Specialist

SOURCE: SCIENCEALERT