In four months, the rock has traveled more than 5.3 miles (8.5 kilometers) on steep terrain. He participated in the mission during the expedition to explore Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient lake and river delta, in which NASA scientists explored rocks from a formation the group refers to as “Máaz”. The rock accompanied the Persistence north to the Octavia E. Butler landing site before turning west toward the ruins of a delta that scientists call “Kodiak”, and then into the western Jezero Delta. The current focus of the Mars rover is to drill cores and examine sedimentary rocks around the delta area. These rocks were created billions of years ago when there was water in the area, according to NASA. Turning the wheel of the rover, Perseverance’s pet rock does not hurt business and it remains to be seen how long the robotic explorer’s new friend will stay. If the pet falls out and bids farewell to the rover, it will be far from home, surrounded by strange, unknown rocks.
Spirit’s and Curiosity’s pet rocks
Perseverance is not the first rover on Mars to adopt a pet rock.
The Rover Spirit, which was active from 2004 to 2010, had a potato-sized rock mounted on the rear right wheel early in its journey. The stone blocked the wheel, so NASA scientists were forced to remove it.
The Curiosity rover was not unknown on the hitchhiking rocks and had many stones riding on its front right wheel for weeks at a time. The rover began roaming the red planet in mid-2012 and is still operating.
