NASA's Perseverance rover spots strange object on Mars; here's what it could be

After spotting a tin foil sandwiched between rocks on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover has now come across anor object. While its identity could not be independently verified, it appears like an entangled wire lying on red planet’s surface. object was photographed last week using rover’s Front Left Hazard Avoidance Camera A fitted onboard.

According to mission team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), picture was taken on July 12, 2022, which was Perseverance rover's 495th day on Mars. As for object's origin, NASA did not clarify what it is, however, it could have been a part of Perseverance's equipment which was used during rover's landing last year.

Notably, aforementioned tin foil, which was found lying near Perseverance's landing site at Jezero Crater, emerged from one of equipments used during landing, a rmal blanket to be precise.

Are humans littering Mars too?

discovery of Perseverance's hardware used in February 2021 to ensure its touchdown on Mars raised concerns and questions about humans littering an alien planet before even visiting. Apart from part of rmal blanket, a few more debris were spotted in past, thanks to Ingenuity helicopter. debris was also from  entry, descent and landing hardware which included a parachute and cone-shaped component called backshell.

Talking about contamination of Mars with objects from Earth, Andrew Coates, a space scientist at UCL’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory told Guardian, " good news is that everything is sterilised before it goes to Mars, and space riation environment helps during nine-month trip to Mars as does harsh surface environment."

He furr said that landing gear, which does produce debris, is important for making a robot land on Mars but emphasised that contamination risk is very low. 

Notably, re is 1967 Outer Space Treaty which enforces avoidance of contamination of outer space and celestial bodies such as Moon. But according to Guardian, many believe that law must be detailed enough to actually work.