Washington: NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover has spotted a ”shiny foil” kind of object on Mars. NASA’s Mars Rover on Wednesday tweeted that the 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,” it said.
The space agency said the “shiny bit of foil is part of a thermal blanket — a material used to control temperatures.
“It is a ‘surprise finding this here: My descent stage crashed about 2 km away. Did this piece land here after that, or was it blown here by the wind?”
“Here’s part of the team at JPL that wrapped me up in thermal blankets. Think of them as spacecraft dressmakers. They work with sewing machines and other tools to piece together these unique materials,” it added.