NASA’s Perseverance rover spots a bizarre DONUT-shaped rock on Mars
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Holes moley! NASA’s Perseverance rover spots a bizarre DONUT-shaped rock on Mars — and experts think it fell from the sky
- Perseverance’s image shows a doughnut-shaped rock with a large hole in the middle
- Mars experts say it’s likely a meteorite that fell on Mars from the sky
From an “alien door” to a bony rock, strange and wonderful objects are often seen on the surface of Mars.
But the latest image, taken by NASA’s Perseverance, may be one of the strangest yet.
The image shows a doughnut-shaped rock with a big hole in the middle.
Bewildered Twitter users have come up with a range of ideas for what the rock could be, including an alien toilet or “some kind of egg.”
However, experts think there’s a more reasonable explanation: It’s probably a meteorite that fell from the sky to Mars.
The latest image, taken by NASA’s Perseverance, may be one of the strangest yet. The image shows a doughnut-shaped rock with a large hole in the middle
Perseverance captured the photo on June 23 and it was shared on Twitter by SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute).
“@NASAPersevere took a photo with the SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager of a donut-shaped rock in the distance on June 23, 2023,” SETI wrote.
While SETI suggests the rock could be a “big meteorite alongside smaller pieces,” several Twitter users have other ideas.
‘Just say it!!! there is life on Mars,” one user wrote, while another added, “Alien toilet!”
Meanwhile, another user suggested, “It’s the ruins of a well of a technologically advanced pre-ice age civilization.” They were also on Mars.’
SETI’s explanation is quite plausible, with meteorites regularly spotted by rovers on Mars.
For example, in January of this year, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured an image of a meteorite nicknamed “Cocoa,” while the space agency’s Opportunity rover captured a photo of a meteorite nicknamed “Block Island” in 2009.
The $2.5bn (£1.95bn) Mars 2020 spacecraft launched on July 30 with the Perseverance rover (pictured) and Ingenuity helicopter inside – and landed successfully on February 18, 2021
NASA’s Mars 2020 mission launched in 2020 to search for signs of ancient life on the Red Planet.
The $2.5bn (£1.95bn) Mars 2020 spacecraft launched on July 30 with the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter inside – and landed successfully on February 18, 2021.
The main car-sized rover explores an ancient river delta in the Jezero crater, which was once filled with a lake 500 meters deep.
The region is believed to have harbored microbial life some 3.5 to 3.9 billion years ago, and the rover will examine soil samples to look for evidence of life.