NASA’s Perseverance rover: a bunch of rope found on the surface of Mars

On July 12, the rover’s front left camera captured a light-colored object that some people compared to spaghetti.

Space agency officials have confirmed that they believe the object is a filament left over from Perseverance’s landing.

According to a spokesman for the Perseverance mission at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., the rope could be from the rover or its descent stage, a rocket-powered jetpack-like component used to safely lower the rover to the planet’s surface. . . .

According to a spokesperson, Perseverance had not previously been to the area where the string was found, so it was likely blown there by the wind.

The rover is currently exploring an ancient delta called Jezero Crater and looking for signs of microscopic life that could have been home on Mars billions of years ago, the spokesman said. This is the crater Perseverance originally landed February 18, 2021

When, four days later, Perseverance again visited the place where the string was, the object is gone.

This is not the first time the rover has stumbled upon fragments of material left over from its descent to Mars.

Perseverance cameras photographed a piece of shiny foil in mid-June. tweet from the official rover account. The team speculated that it was part of the rover’s thermal blanket, a thin temperature-regulating material that may have fallen off during descent.

The rover team at NASA is studying the new piece of debris and plans to release more details later this week.