Stone found his way into the rover’s left front wheel in early February as he circled the red planet, according to Perseverance’s left-hander camera.
In four months, the rock has traveled more than 5.3 miles (8.5 kilometers) over rugged terrain. He joined the mission during a campaign to explore Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient lake and river delta in which NASA scientists explored rocks from a formation the team called Maaz.
The rock accompanied the Stubbornness to the north to the landing site of Octavia E. Butler, before turning west to the remains of the delta, which scientists call “Kodiak”, then further to the western delta of Lake.
The current focus of the rover is to drill nuclei and study sedimentary rocks around the delta area. These rocks were created billions of years ago, when there was water in the area, according to NASA.
Spinning on the rover’s wheel, Perseverance’s pet is not harmed by the operations and it remains to be seen how long the robotic researcher’s new friend will remain.
If the pet’s rock falls and says goodbye to the rover, he will be away from home, surrounded by strange, unfamiliar rocks.
The home rocks of Spirit and Curiosity
Perseverance is not the first rover to use pet rock.
The Spirit Rover, which was active from 2004 to 2010, had a potato-sized stone stuck in its right rear wheel at the start of its journey. The stone stopped the wheel, so NASA scientists had to move it.
The Curiosity rover was no stranger to hitchhiking rocks, and there were a few pebbles riding in its front right wheel for weeks. The rover began orbiting the Red Planet in mid-2012 and is still operational.
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