Humans have managed to leave litter on Mars despite never stepping foot on the planet. NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover spotted an unexpected piece of trash on the red planet, a shiny object wedged between two pieces of rock, according to a report from the space agency Wednesday. Read more: China says it may have detected signals from alien civilization In a series of posts to Twitter, the Perseverance team shared that they’d spotted what is believed to be a piece of thermal blanket that was used to protect the rover from extreme temperatures during its landing.
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) <a href=«https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1537120573314113536?ref_src=» https: globalnews.ca>June 15, 2022 “It’s 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?” read a follow-up post. That shiny bit of foil is part of a thermal blanket – a material used to control temperatures.