NASA Rover Creates A Silly Face On Mars While Digging For Rock Samples
NASA's Perseverance rover is back to collecting Martian rock samples, and in doing so, it created a silly-looking face on Mars' dusty surface. Since it arrived on Mars in February 2021, Perseverance has repeatedly proven to be an invaluable tool for exploring the Red Planet. It's not the first rover NASA has ever sent to Mars, but it is one of the most advanced.
Over the past year, Perseverance has been quite busy. It collected its first rock sample last September, helped confirm the existence of an ancient lake in the Jezero Crater, and has shared thousands of stunning images all along the way — capturing everything from haunting sunrises to bizarre rock formations. Despite a few small bumps here and there, the Perseverance mission has been an overwhelming success.
Related: New Perseverance Photo Shows Three Rocks 'Sunbathing' On Mars
On January 31, 2022, NASA updated the Perseverance Twitter account to confirm the collection of another rock sample. This is something Perseverance has done multiple times now, but the way it acquired this latest one had a pretty humorous side effect. The photo above shows two previously-drilled holes and a small crater below them — making it look like the rock is surprised to see Perseverance coming back for another sample. The photo below shows the rock after Perseverance's latest drilling, in which it looks even sillier with a third 'eye.'
Why did Perseverance collect this latest sample from a rock it's already drilled into? On December 29, 2021, Perseverance dug into this same rock and collected a sample without a hitch. Unfortunately, the sample then refused to transfer to one of Perseverance's collection tubes. NASA quickly found that small pebbles were stuck inside parts of
Read more on screenrant.com
