The vast frontier of space is full of surprises, including, apparently, those that come in the shape of breakfast pastries.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured the image on Friday, which the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI Institute) then shared to Twitter on Monday. In it, a large, circular rock with a sizeable hole in the middle can be seen resting on the planet’s surface. Around it, smaller stone debris of the same color are scattered.
The SETI Institute said in the tweet that the object, which they called a “donut-shaped rock,” may be a “large meteorite alongside smaller pieces,” meaning it could have originated elsewhere before landing on Mars.
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Perseverance launched on its current Mars mission July 30, 2020, and landed on February 18, 2021, after traveling about 300 million miles over seven months. The expedition was planned to last about two years, though past rover journeys have indicated it may take longer.
Perseverance began working towards its primary goal of collecting samples about two months after landing. The rover, which scientists say will travel about 10 miles on its search, is also tasked with looking for signs of ancient life on the planet, starting in a dry waterbed that had once been a lake.
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