The adventures of Perseverance: a piece of metal, a pebble in the wheel, and a balancing rock
It seems a priori quite logical to imagine that the days of Perseverance on the surface of Mars continue in a rather monotonous way. The week that has passed proves, however, that the journey of Perseverance is strewn with pitfalls and pleasant surprises. On June 15, the rover’s Twitter account published a photo of a strange piece of metal stuck in a Martian rock. The explanation, however, is simple: “My team spotted something unexpected: it was a piece of a thermal blanket that they think might have come from my descent stage, the rocket-powered jet pack that dropped me off on the day of the landing in 2021” specifies “the rover” just below this shot.
It remains to be seen how this piece of metal got there, 2 km from the landing point: carried by the winds or propelled away during the impact of the jet pack on the ground of Mars? The second photo, published the same day, reveals that a rather massive piece of rock has become lodged in the wheel of the Rover. For now, this traveling companion does not prevent Perseverance from moving freely, but NASA is keeping a watchful eye on this stowaway…
Finally, the Perseverance camera captured the photo of a rocky area of Mars, with in the background the frankly astonishing image of a large Martian pebble in improbable balance, all the more improbable as the area is regularly swept by the winds (Perseverance sees up to 4 wind vortices…every day). By what miracle does this piece of rock manage to keep its balance? The question has been agitating the forums for a few hours…
