NASA Mars Perseverance Rover Snugs Over New Martian Rock; Who Is ‘Sid?’

Sid, the newest Mars rock selected for sampling as part of NASA's quest to learn more about the planet and its geological past, is introduced in a fresh collection of photographs from the space agency's Perseverance rover.

The rover's meeting with Sid is significant because it will undoubtedly be the last sample gathered before Perseverance travels to a new, previously unexplored spot.

NASA Mars Perseverance Rover's Wheels Can't Get Enough Of Stones

NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover appears to have taken on board a stowaway to transport over the Red Planet's surface.

CNET uploaded a sequence of photographs on Friday showing a medium-sized pebble stuck in the rover's wheel.

According to the site, space lovers who like looking at the raw photographs sent back to Earth by the Rovers discovered the rock and voted numerous photos of it as "Image of the Week."

According to NASA's Mars Rover photo collection, the initial sighting of the rock appears to have occurred on Feb. 6.

On Feb. 25, the next shot that NASA fans spotted was taken. In this snapshot, the rock looks to have eroded significantly and is slightly smaller than in the previous shot.

The third and most current photo was taken on March 2. A developing chip in the rock may be seen, and little bits of Martian dust or shattered rock can be seen inside the rover wheel. The image below is also from NASA's official website.

Who is Sid?

Sid is sitting within the Jezero Crater, where Perseverance arrived on Mars in Feb. 2021. It's part of a kind of Martian rock known as "Ch'a," after the Navajo word for "frog" (pronounced "chesh").

Mashable said these Ch'a pebbles may be discovered in a section of the crater known as "Santa Cruz," which NASA believes formerly hosted a body of water.

And it's a scientifically exciting place because it might represent a relic of Jezero's western delta, which is the rover's next visit.

Purdue University student collaborator Brad Garczynski said Sid is an example of "a higher standing boulder that possibly represents a unique geologic chapter in the crater floor history that [they] have not yet sampled."

After "weeks of deliberation," the science team and the rover planners chose Sid as the preferred rock."

NASA has previously referred to rovers like Perseverance as "robot geologists." The rover employs a built-in abrasion tool to generate the circular pattern shown in the top image when studying rocks.

Because the exterior of every specific Mars rock is regularly influenced by the surrounding environment, this is critical to the study process.

The objective is to learn more about the planet's geological history. There may be clues to that history concealed beneath the dusty surface of every individual Mars rock.

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