NASA’s Perseverance rover captured some very interesting images during its mission to the Red Planet. Researchers have detected what appears to be a small doorway to a mysterious figure lying on the planet’s surface. On July 12, 2022, Perseverance captured what some say looks a bit like spaghetti or possibly a small Martian bush.
The spaghetti-like image was captured by the reconnaissance vehicle’s “Front left crash prevention camera A”. accident prevention cameras; It is designed to detect hazards in the fore and aft paths of the rover, such as ditches, large boulders or sand dunes. Engineers also use crash prevention cameras on the front to monitor where to move the robot arm to take measurements, take pictures, and collect rock and soil samples.
Space debris a problem?
The object in the photo is probably not a flavor of Mars, but most likely debris from Perseverance’s mission. A NASA spokesperson told Gizmodo via email that they think the object is some kind of debris, but it’s not clear yet what it is.
In June, Perseverance stumbled upon a piece of debris stuck between a rock formation. The space agency said the object was part of the rover’s thermal blanket from when it landed on the Red Planet in February 2021. Photos like these raise questions about how much missions like Perseverance could impact the planet in the long run. As more spacecraft are planned to be used on future missions, including manned missions, the debris could pose a nuisance to the Martian surface.
NASA and other space agencies take great precaution by decontaminating* spacecraft before sending them into space. But at some point it’s nearly impossible to prevent some microbes from Earth from going into space. Also, humans don’t have a good track record of keeping our own planet clean. While debris on Mars is limited at this point, it won’t be long before it becomes a problem at some point in the future. Spacecraft like Perseverance seem incapable of picking up their backs. Therefore, developing a spacecraft capable of cleaning up its own mess in the future seems worth the effort.
*Decontamination; It is to ensure the safety of people, goods and the environment by removing or neutralizing chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents from the human body, goods and environment.
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