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Washington: A tangled object spotted on Mars by NASA’s Mars 2020 rover robot has sparked the interest of space scientists, prompting some to think that it might be a piece of pasta.
A more logical and realistic explanation is that the object is likely leftover from a component that was used in the landing of the robotic rover on Mars in February 2021.
“We were discussing the issue of the source of this object, and there was speculation that it was a piece of rope belonging to a parachute or the landing system that was used to slowly lower the craft,” a spokesman for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory told AFP.
“But we have no assurances about any possibility of the two,” he added.
The object was first spotted on 12 July through the hazard-avoidance camera on the left front of the vehicle, but when the vehicle returned to the same location four days later the object had disappeared.
It was likely blown away by the wind as a piece of thermal insulation the spacecraft spotted last month that may be left over from the rocket-powered landing system.
The accumulation of debris left by the craft is a minor detriment against the practical goals of the mission, which is to search for vital fingerprints of ancient microbial life forms.
These elements may one day become valuable relics for future colonizers of Mars.
“In a hundred years or more, Martians will eagerly collect these pieces and put them in museums or transform them (historic gems),” tweeted amateur astronomer Stuart Atkinson.