Once again, the Perseverance rover was faced with an unexpected event: a medium-sized stone was stuck in its wheel.
Many of you have probably had a pebble accidentally get stuck in your shoe, and you may even remember the unpleasant sensation. Perseverance on Mars had the same experience, picking up a medium-sized boulder stuck between its wheels in February.
CNet's statement according to the image shown here was taken on 25 February 2022, but it is also on an image taken on 2 March, so it must have been on the rover until that date.
To our knowledge, NASA has not provided any official information on whether the rock is obstructing Perseverance's movement, but judging by the footage, it may not have caused/created too much of a problem.
But a few weeks ago, the Mars rover also faced a serious challenge after failing to place samples perfectly in the designated collection tube at the end of December, and debris was found where it should not have been. Removing the debris was a major challenge for the researchers, as there was a risk that failure to remove the debris could jeopardise the success of future sampling. The rock fragments that caused the problem were eventually removed remove them for researchers.
The Perseverance rover is part of NASA's exploration programme. Launched in July 2020, the vehicle landed in the Jezero crater last February with the aim of studying the geology and climate history of the body to find evidence of life on the red planet.
