Maybe it’s part of a meteorite
NASA’s Perseverance rover sent back a photo of a large rock with a hole in the center, which has already been dubbed the “Martian doughnut”.
Representatives of the SETI Institute, which is looking for extraterrestrial intelligence, said that this stone could be part of a large meteorite that fell on the planet.
Perseverance first spotted the potential meteorite just weeks after it landed on the planet in February 2021. Another rover, Curiosity, has also found several meteorites on Mars since landing in August 2012. In January 2014, NASA’s Opportunity rover found a rock that was white on the outside and red on the inside, prompting NASA to compare it to a jelly donut.
NASA Perseverance finds ‘Martian donut’ on the Red Planet
Perseverance explores the 45km-wide Jezero crater on Mars, which contained a large lake and river delta billions of years ago. The rover is looking for signs of long-standing life and is collecting dozens of soil samples for a future return to Earth.
He is assisted by a small Ingenuity helicopter. It was designed for 5 flights, but has already completed 51 flights over Mars, covering a total of 11.7 km.
