Perseverance has been carrying a little stowaway for a few days.

A large pebble has indeed lodged in the wheel of the rover which has been crisscrossing the planet Mars since February 18, 2021, reports this Tuesday 

Universe Today

 relayed by

Numerama

.

The discovery of the small rock was made thanks to a photo taken on February 25 by one of the robot's six obstacle detection cameras.

The pebble does not seem to disturb Perseverance's motor skills or interfere with the activity of the wheel that hosts it.

That said, the rover did not have to move between February 25 and March 7.

So there are still uncertainties.

NASA's #Mars_Exploration Program



There's a big rock stuck inside one of Perseverance's wheels



"It looks like the Perseverance rover has an unwanted passenger, a rock stuck inside one of its wheels." https://t.co/MqGKwdnxqB


via @physorg_com pic. twitter.com/udr9UxpT16

— Mars Exploration Terraforming & Colonization News (@MarsExplorat) March 9, 2022

Access to this content has been blocked to respect your choice of consent

By clicking on "

I ACCEPT

", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to third-party content

I ACCEPT

You can also modify your choices at any time via "choice of consent".

More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.

Perseverance took its 7th direct debit

Anyway, NASA did not communicate on this subject.

So far, the images reveal no apparent physical damage to the rover.

Experts assume that this pebble lodged in the wheel of the robot while the latter was moving on sloping ground.

Perseverance's mission is to collect samples from the Martian soil.

This Tuesday, NASA confirmed that the rover had successfully taken its seventh sample.

The rover should take another sample from the same rock before continuing on its way.

Science

A year after its arrival on Mars, the Perseverance robot nourishes the hopes of scientists

Science

The Curiosity rover has photographed a sand rose on Mars

  • Space

  • Research

  • Robot

  • March

  • Science

  • Perseverance

  • 0 comment

  • 0 share

    • Share on Messenger

    • Share on Facebook

    • Share on Twitter

    • Share on Flipboard

    • Share on Pinterest

    • Share on Linkedin

    • Send by Mail

  • To safeguard

  • A fault ?

  • To print