A rock on the left front wheel of Perseverance at Sun 343, image was acquired on February 6, 2022 (Sun 343).
NASA / JPL-Caltech
The Mars Perseverance rover has adopted a pet rock – or an amazing hitchhiker – and has been taking care of it for four months.
The “unexpected travel companion” first jumped on the rover’s left front wheel in February, according to NASA, and has been rolling since. So far, more than 5.3 miles have been transported while the rover transmits images of the red planet to Earth.
“This rock is not doing any damage to the wheel, but throughout its journey (no doubt rugged!), It has clung and made regular appearances in our images of left Hazcam,” NASA wrote in a statement. , and added: “The Pet of Perseverance. The rock has seen many things in its travels … If this pet rock could speak, it could tell us the changes that are being observed as we go. [traveled] return north through the Octavia E. Butler landing site, and then west, passing by the spectacular remains of the ancient extension of the delta, “Kodiak,” on our journey to the western delta of Jezer “.
Pet rock can fall off the wheel at some point and will probably land between very different rocks.
“As one of our team members said this week, ‘we could confuse a future geologist from Mars who finds him out of place,'” NASA wrote.
This is not the first time a rover has caught a rocky travel companion, the agency said. About 18 years ago, the Spirit rover picked up a “potato-sized” rock that was left on the right rear wheel and had to be evacuated. And the Curiosity rover occasionally grabbed rocks too.
But NASA noted that the current Perseverance rock is “on the way to hitchhiking records on Mars.”
The rover Perseverance landed on Mars on February 18, 2021 to “look for signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for a possible return to Earth.” Since he arrived, he has been tweeting and sending pictures.
At the end of this month, the Grand Canyon will host a star party that will begin with a presentation of Mars Perseverance on June 18 to learn about the rover of someone who helped build it.
Alison Fox is a Travel + Leisure contributing writer. When he’s not in New York, he enjoys spending time on the beach or exploring new destinations and hopes to visit every country in the world. Follow her adventures on Instagram.