NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Discovers Strange Spaghetti-Like Material On Red Planet

There are obviously no restaurants on Mars, but National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has found a spaghetti-shaped object on the Red Planet.

Clearly, the object isn't a spaghetti, hairball, or other strange Martian creature. It appears to be a tangle of strings that is disorganized, according to Mashable India.

A rare photo of a silver object wedged between two rocks of Mars' Jezero Crater was taken by the space agency's Perseverance rover, which is currently roaming the Red Planet, reported Mirror. According to Fox News, the shot was taken on July 12 or Mars Day 495.

The shiny object was beamed down to Earth for all to see, but it turned out to be some junk from the rover. The stringy clump is debris from the mission, it was confirmed by a NASA spokesperson.

A member of the Perserverance team said that the team "spotted something unexpected." Explaining the discovery, the team member said that it is a piece of a "thermal blanket that they think may have come from my descent stage." The team member shared that it was the rocket-powered jet pack that "set me down on landing day back in 2021."

When the rover spotted the spaghetti-shaped piece of debris, it left many researchers scratching their heads. Some thought that the small piece of metal came from one of the rover's hazard avoidance cameras that is front-facing. The cameras help to keep an eye on the landscape which in turn helps to protect the rover when it's using its robotic arm or driving.

The junk was clicked by Mars' chopper Ingenuity. Hypothesis on where it came from include previous NASA missions to Mars.

On the Red Planet last February, the Mars Perseverance rover completed its year anniversary. The spacecraft carrying NASA's $2.7 billion robotic explorer, Perseverance, placed the rover gently on the Red Planet on Feb. 18, 2021. It marked the space agency's most thorough and enthusiastic effort in decades to study if there was ever life on Mars. The Perseverance rover has found almost 50 strange objects on the Red Planet. There is hope that it will send more strange objects like these in the future as well.