A rock found its way to the rover’s left front wheel in early February as it roamed the red planet, according to Perseverance’s left avoidance camera.
In four months, the rock has traveled more than 5.3 miles (8.5 kilometers) through the rugged terrain. He joined the mission during the campaign to explore Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient lake and river delta, in which NASA scientists examined the rocks of a formation that the team refers to. with “Máaz”.
The rock accompanied Perseverance north to the landing site of Octavia E. Butler before turning west toward the remains of a delta that scientists call “Kodiak,” and then toward the western delta of Jezero.
The current focus of the Mars rover is to drill cores and examine sedimentary rocks around the delta area. These rocks were created billions of years ago when there was water in the area, according to NASA.
Touching the rover’s wheel, Perseverance’s pet rock doesn’t hurt operations, and it remains to be seen how long the robotic explorer’s new friend will stay.
If the pet’s rock falls and the rover is fired, it will be far from home, surrounded by strange and unknown rocks.
Spirit and Curiosity Pet Rocks
Perseverance is not the first rover on Mars to adopt a pet rock.
The Spirit rover, which was active from 2004 to 2010, had a potato-sized rock on its right rear wheel at the beginning of its journey. The stone stopped the wheel, so NASA scientists had to dislodge it.
The Curiosity rover was no stranger to hitchhiking on the rocks and had several stones walking on its right front wheel for weeks at a time. The rover began touring the red planet in mid-2012 and is still in operation.