NASA Perseverance Rover Drops Mysterious Litter on Mars; Can You Guess What That Is?

NASA's Perseverance rover strangely dropped a cylindrical object on Mars again. However, experts assured that there's no need to be concerned.

According to reports, the spacecraft dropped an out-of-place object in the middle of the planet last July 2020. But NASA confirmed that Percy indeed left something in the middle of a dry, stony terrain of Mars.

NASA Perseverance Rover Lands On Mars

(Photo: NASA via Getty Images)
UNSPECIFIED: In this concept illustration provided by NASA, NASA's Perseverance (Mars 2020) rover uses its drill to core a rock sample and will store them in sealed tubes on the planet's surface for future missions to retrieve in the area known as Jezero crater on the planet Mars. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, paving the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

NASA Mars Perseverance Rover Drops Mystery Item on Mars

Hoax-buster UFO of Interest noticed this mysterious item NASA Mars Perseverance Rover dropped earlier this week. The Twitter netizen traced down the tale behind the object.

The Twitter user asked: "Hey, what is that object in Mars Perseverance's RAW image (Sol 353) acquired on Feb. 16, 2022? [Proof] of ancient aliens as exposed on these days by some UFO grifters?"

UFO of Interest further clarified that NASA Perseverance Rover dropped the item on purpose.

This particular drill bit was installed before launch, to close out the drill and keep the inside protected. To keep my science clean and clear, I’m leaving it aside before I start to collect samples with new, pristine drill bits. pic.twitter.com/CusJKLYxhf
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) July 23, 2021

NASA Mars Perseverance Rover said engineers fitted the bit before the launch to close out the drill and protect the interior.

"To keep my science clean and clear, I'm leaving it aside before I start to collect samples with new, pristine drill bits," Percy further explained in a tweet.

@https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1418673630427287554@

Since Percy took the photo, the bit has toppled over on its side. You can also see parts of the rover's wheel tracks in the image.

The rover isn't the only one who has littered on Mars. The rover ejected an ejectable belly pan used to protect its sampling system after landing in March 2021.

ALSO READ: NASA Mars Perseverance Rover Gets a Shocking Rock Sample After Clogging Issues

Other Perseverance Rover Struggles

Perseverance has run into a few roadblocks, but the crew is getting closer to the day when a gloved hand will touch pristine Martian rock with six cores collected so far.

Here are Percy's struggles during its journey to Mars, as enumerated by National Geographic.

Dropping Rock Samples

The initial batch of data Perseverance shared on Aug. 6, 2021, revealed that the rover had just taken its first sample from the ground of jezero Crater.

However, the next batch of data immediately threw the joyous mood into disarray - the tube contained no sign of rock.

The scientists determined the sample was frail and had simply dissolved during drilling after several days of trying to fix the situation.

This frustrating incident served as a reminder to the team of how tough working remotely on Mars might be.

The crew collected six samples of Martian rocks in all, in addition to the first attempt's atmospheric sample. The rover also caught air in a canister pre-filled with Earth elements for contamination tests in the future.

The complex and unusual geological characteristics of the jezero crater, the result of an asteroid impact, and the activity of water, wind, and lava have already been revealed by these samples and other data obtained during Perseverance's first year on Mars.

According to the first analyses, the first two rock cores came from a Rochette stone, a basaltic volcanic rock. The following two rock samples were collected from Sétah, a sandy location.

Percy still has many kilometers to swallow. Percy heads to a fan-shaped delta and its coastlines at the start of his second year of duty, where the most promising places for the hunt for a former life form should be found.

Bringing Samples Back to Earth

None of the obstacles Perseverance has experienced in its first year on Mars can compare to the one that lies ahead: the return of samples to Earth.

The sample return program will be built on multiple space probes. It will result from NASA and the European Space Agency working together (ESA).

The program's future phases could be implemented as early as 2026. A lander will land on Mars with a small rover whose job will be to locate Percy's samples dispersed throughout the planet's surface.