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NASA’s Perseverance rover finds a tangled object on Mars

NASA rover has discovered a mysterious string-like substance on the surface of Mars. Turns out – it was probably just trash thrown away by the rover itself.

from Last week’s blog post by the Space AgencyWhen the rover initially landed on Mars in February 2021, an instrument known as the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) was flung onto the planet’s surface, scientists said.

Now, NASA is seeing this debris from images on the Hogwallow Flats on the Red Planet. Scientists suspect that the entangled objects, and much of the other material depicted, are likely pieces of a dacron web torn apart by persistence.

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NASA’s Mars Perseverance spacecraft captured this image of the area ahead using its Left Hazard Avoidance front-facing camera on Flight A.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

“So far we’ve seen shiny pieces of thermal blanket material, a dacron mesh material also used in thermal blankets,” wrote NASA imaging scientist Justin Mackie. “It should be noted that discarded debris is a common occurrence in space missions.”

Dacron is classified as a polyester fiber The blog explains that they are known for their durability, consistency and quality.

“It appears that certain parts of the web have undergone significant disintegration/breaks, which indicates that the net has been subjected to strong forces,” Mackey wrote. “Members of the persistence team are reviewing images of the debris, checking to see if the material could be a potential source of contamination for sample tubes from this area.”

The blog notes that engineers also considered the possibility that the EDL wreck could be a source of danger for entanglement on the rover, but concluded that such a risk was low.

“As persistence continues to collect samples to eventually return to Earth, the diligent imaging team will continue to review terrain images for potential sources of EDL accidents,” Mackie wrote.

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