NASA’s Perseverance rover makes ‘surprise’ discovery on Mars

NASA has expressed its surprise after its Perseverance Mars rover came across an “unexpected” object while roaming the Red Planet.

NASA has stumbled across an “unexpected” shiny object on Mars.

The space agency’s Perseverance rover spotted the metal foil-like item during a routine wander.

But before you start speculating about aliens, the truth behind is a lot closer to home.

It turns out the material is one of NASA’s own, The Sun reports.

Experts revealed the “surprise” finding on Twitter and say it appears to be a piece of a thermal blanket.

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The shiny object is believed to be a piece of thermal blanket. Picture: NASA

They think it may have been from when Perseverance descended onto the Red Planet back in 2021.

More specifically, it may be from the rocket-powered jet pack.

Zooming in on the image shows tiny dots which are normal for a thermal blanket.

Speaking to CNET, a representative for NASA said they’re certain it’s part of a thermal blanket but are less sure about which part of the spacecraft.

My team has spotted something unexpected: It’s a piece of a thermal blanket that they think may have come from my descent stage, the rocket-powered jet pack that set me down on landing day back in 2021. pic.twitter.com/O4rIaEABLu

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) June 15, 2022

“Less definite is which part of the spacecraft it came from – the team thinks the descent stage is a good possibility – or how exactly it got here,” explained Andrew Good from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

“Descent stage crashed two kilometres away; whether it landed here after that crash or was blown by the wind isn’t something we know.”

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. Picture: NASA

Not everyone was impressed with the discovery though.

Some commented on the fact that NASA is essentially littering on Mars.

“No humans there yet and we’ve already left litter,” one said.

“We the humans have successfully put our trash out there even before putting our feet,” another complained.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been reproduced with permission