NASA photo
Mark Price
Thu, June 16, 2022,
A piece of human trash has been found on Mars and as embarrassing as that sounds, at least it’s not a cigarette butt.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover announced the “surprise” find Wednesday, June 15, and shared photos showing what appears to be a square of aluminum foil snagged between rocks.
Scientists believe they know what it is, but they’re still debating how it got there.
“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 last year,” NASA wrote on Facebook.
“It’s a surprise finding this here because my descent stage crashed about 2 km (1.2 miles) away. Did this piece land here after that, or was it blown here by the wind?”
If NASA was hoping for theories, they definitely asked the wrong crowd.
Commenters on social media are mostly horrified that humans are polluting a planet we’ve never visited in the flesh. Some chastised the agency for being sloppy, while a few pranksters claimed they spotted NASA trash in other Mars photos, including a Big Gulp cup from 7-Eleven.
“NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover — please tidy up after yourself. I hope you are going to pick up your mess,” Christopher Hughes wrote on the agency’s Facebook page.
“How to pollute without physically (being) in a place: that’s another level,” Michela Gusmini posted.
“I guess it will not be long until we start seeing soda bottles, discarded fast food packaging and plastic litter on Mars. Maybe we need to send a robot with a broom to start tidying up already,” Michael Harris said.
Some among the commenters came to NASA’s defense, noting it might cost millions in tax dollars to pick up our trash on Mars.
“Just because humans don’t like scraps and debris, doesn’t mean the Martians hate it too. We know nothing about them. They could eat pollution for all we know,” David Savage wrote on Facebook.
It’s not clear if NASA knew a piece of thermal blanketing had fallen off during descent. The reflective material is created by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and wrapped around the space craft to regulate temperature, the agency says.
The Perseverance Rover landed on Mars in February 2021 to “seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of ... broken rock and soil ... for possible return to Earth.”
NASA rover investigates 'bacon strip' on Mars
NASA rover investigates 'bacon strip' on Mars
Brian Lada
Fri, June 17, 2022, 10:09 AM·2 min read
NASA's Perseverance Rover has been driving around the surface of Mars since landing on the planet on Feb. 18, 2021, and the latest geological wonder explored by the robotic pioneer is exciting for geologists and could cause cravings for breakfast food.
On Thursday, June 16, NASA said that the rover was driving over "the bacon strip," a nickname for a region that had piqued the interest of scientists.
The location was not inspired by the discovery of pigs on Mars, but rather the way the area resembles a strip of bacon when viewed from space.
The path that the Perseverance Rover has driven superimposed on a satellite image of the surface of Mars. In early June, the rover reached an area nicknamed the "bacon strip." (NASA/JPL)
Since arriving at the site, NASA scientists have started to call the area "Hogwallow Flats" and is a geological jackpot.
"The nearby rocks are a sight to behold," the Perseverance Rover's Twitter account said, adding that it is "paradise" for rock nerds.
The cheeky Twitter account quipped that "My team is happy as pigs in mud(stone)!"
On its journey to the Martian bacon strip, NASA scientists also noticed something that seemed out of place.
Nestled in the crevasse of a rock was a shiny object unlike anything else in the otherworldly landscape.
After a closer look, NASA determined that it was not a rock, but a piece of foil from Earth that was used during the ascent stage when Perseverance landed on Mars.
Two images of a piece of foil found on Mars that were used as a thermal blanket when NASA' perseverance Rover enters the atmosphere of the Red Planet. (NASA/JPL)
While it was easy to identify the object as foil, it did raise a burning question that may forever be unanswered.
"My descent stage crashed about 2 km away," the rover's Twitter account said. "Did this piece land here after that, or was it blown here by the wind?"
NASA's Perseverance Rover has snapped and sent home over one-quarter of a million photos from the surface of Mars since landing in 2021.
It is also outfitted with a small weather station so that the robot can gather atmospheric data on Mars, including temperature, wind speed, humidity and the amount of dust in the air.
On June 9, 2022, Perseverance reported a high temperature of 2 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, followed by an overnight low of 113 F below zero. It is currently late autumn where Perseverance is located, meaning that even lower temperatures are right around the corner as it approaches winter.
NASA rover investigates 'bacon strip' on Mars
Brian Lada
Fri, June 17, 2022, 10:09 AM·2 min read
NASA's Perseverance Rover has been driving around the surface of Mars since landing on the planet on Feb. 18, 2021, and the latest geological wonder explored by the robotic pioneer is exciting for geologists and could cause cravings for breakfast food.
On Thursday, June 16, NASA said that the rover was driving over "the bacon strip," a nickname for a region that had piqued the interest of scientists.
The location was not inspired by the discovery of pigs on Mars, but rather the way the area resembles a strip of bacon when viewed from space.
The path that the Perseverance Rover has driven superimposed on a satellite image of the surface of Mars. In early June, the rover reached an area nicknamed the "bacon strip." (NASA/JPL)
Since arriving at the site, NASA scientists have started to call the area "Hogwallow Flats" and is a geological jackpot.
"The nearby rocks are a sight to behold," the Perseverance Rover's Twitter account said, adding that it is "paradise" for rock nerds.
The cheeky Twitter account quipped that "My team is happy as pigs in mud(stone)!"
On its journey to the Martian bacon strip, NASA scientists also noticed something that seemed out of place.
Nestled in the crevasse of a rock was a shiny object unlike anything else in the otherworldly landscape.
After a closer look, NASA determined that it was not a rock, but a piece of foil from Earth that was used during the ascent stage when Perseverance landed on Mars.
Two images of a piece of foil found on Mars that were used as a thermal blanket when NASA' perseverance Rover enters the atmosphere of the Red Planet. (NASA/JPL)
While it was easy to identify the object as foil, it did raise a burning question that may forever be unanswered.
"My descent stage crashed about 2 km away," the rover's Twitter account said. "Did this piece land here after that, or was it blown here by the wind?"
NASA's Perseverance Rover has snapped and sent home over one-quarter of a million photos from the surface of Mars since landing in 2021.
It is also outfitted with a small weather station so that the robot can gather atmospheric data on Mars, including temperature, wind speed, humidity and the amount of dust in the air.
On June 9, 2022, Perseverance reported a high temperature of 2 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, followed by an overnight low of 113 F below zero. It is currently late autumn where Perseverance is located, meaning that even lower temperatures are right around the corner as it approaches winter.
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