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spaceSpace and Physics

NASA’s Perseverance Have Shot Lasers At A Peculiar Looking Rock

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Dr. Alfredo Carpineti

author

Dr. Alfredo Carpineti

Senior Staff Writer & Space Correspondent

Alfredo (he/him) has a PhD in Astrophysics on galaxy evolution and a Master's in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces.

Senior Staff Writer & Space Correspondent

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The peculiar rock spotted by Perseverence

The peculiar rock spotted by Perseverence with the marks left by its laser circled in red. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-CalTech

NASA’s Perseverance has spotted a weird-looking rock on Mars and got down to investigating it by shooting it with its laser! We know from a few weeks ago that the laser doesn’t go pew pew on Mars, but snap snap (check the incredible audio recording here)!

So what’s the secret behind this rock? Well, we don’t know yet. And it’s not like Perseverance is just an exciting three-year-old having discovered something cool. The rover is currently on standby as NASA’s ingenuity, the Mars Helicopter, is being lowered from its belly onto the ground.

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The team discusses on Twitter that they have three main hypotheses to explain why this rock looks like this. It could be due to just weathering effects. Alternatively, it could be a meteorite that hit Mars. The third hypothesis is even more exciting: it could be a piece of Mars that was through up into the air by an ancient impact and landed back in Jezero crater, the area the rover is studying.

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The scientists will hopefully found out some answers soon when Perseverance can start exploring again.


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  • Mars,

  • Perseverence

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