This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series exploring the Red Planet.
I want to share my excitement about a rock. It is kind of circular. It is sitting – or perhaps attached to or eroded by – another tall, large rock. I love this rock. It doesn’t look like it should be doing what it’s doing. Looks like it should have rolled over or fell off. But it’s right there, doing its rock thing. on Mars.
NASA’s Perseverance rover captured the Martian rock in a detailed image taken on June 12 with a camera mounted on its mast. See full scenario:
NASA’s Perseverance rover captured this view of Mars in the river delta region of Jezero Crater on June 12.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Did you take it all in? The small round adventitious rock is just one feature that deserves attention. There is also sloping sandy ground, flaky rock and a bulge that looks like a snake’s head or a seal with an open mouth.
Persistence is currently exploring an attractive river delta area in Jezero Crater. Scientists are excited for this part of the mission because it could help us understand whether Mars was once home to microbes. The rover will collect rock samples that will hopefully be brought back to Earth for study.
The eye-catching image captured the imaginations of Mars fans online. astrobiologist David Grinspoon called it “Probably the most evocative picture ever taken on Mars.” I nodded my head in agreement, though it has some stiff competition from a bevy of gorgeous rover snapshots.
What a world!
Taken by Perseverance yesterday, this is probably the most suggestive photo ever taken of Mars. I can’t stop staring at it and looking at this landscape. pic.twitter.com/LwH1agZWgl— David Grinspoon (@DrFunkySpoon) 14 June 2022
For some it was not enough to simply appreciate the beauty of the scene; He needed to expand on this. so here is the scenario With a Gorn from Star Trek,
An incredible image indeed, but it’s also something completely evocative for people of a certain age and the like… pic.twitter.com/BRq9M1m9bz
— john caprillion (@JohnCaprilion) 14 June 2022
And Rafiki is standing on the rock raise simba From Disney’s The Lion King (cue Circle of Life):
And with Looney Tunes’ Wiley E. Coyote is clearly looking for signs Roadrunner’s on Mars:
so there you go. This gem of a Perseverance rover scene may simultaneously be one of the most awe-inspiring and one of the funniest photos ever taken on Mars. Meep MEEP.
