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The work was led by Candice Bedford, a research scientist at Purdue University<\/a>, whose studies focus on Martian rocks.<\/p>\n The unusual Phippsaksla rock has a sculpted shape and raised position that make it stand out from the flatter, broken rocks carpeting the crater rim.<\/p>\n Initial analysis<\/a> showed that Phippsaksla holds iron and nickel, matching an iron-nickel meteorite, a metal-rich rock from space.<\/p>\n Because it rests on fractured, impact-formed bedrock outside Jezero Crater, the rock may record how older collisions reshaped that landscape.<\/p>\n Meet the Mars rover that found it<\/p>\n Perseverance has spent nearly five years exploring Jezero Crater, an ancient lake basin where water once pooled and left layered sediments.<\/p>\n The rover\u2019s main job is collecting rock and dust for return to Earth, guided by a recent study<\/a> that mapped their context.<\/p>\n Finding a stray metal-rich rock along that route reminds scientists that Mars still holds surprises even in heavily studied terrain.<\/p>\n The Vernodden outcrop lies on the rim where impacts fractured bedrock, solid stone beneath loose soil, and left scattered blocks.<\/p>\n Iron and nickel in Phippsaksla<\/p>\n On both Mars and Earth, rocks loaded with iron and nickel usually trace back to the shattered cores of large asteroids.<\/p>\n These metal-rich meteorites formed when early planetesimals, small worlds that built planets, melted inside and separated heavy metals from lighter rock<\/a>.<\/p>\n If Phippsaksla is one of these fragments, it offers a sample of deep asteroid material without launching a new mission.<\/p>\n Mars\u2019 thin atmosphere and dry surface mean such metal-rich rocks can sit for ages with relatively little rusting or erosion.<\/p>\n What meteorites on Mars reveal<\/p>\n As they travel through space, metal bodies record hits from cosmic rays, high-energy particles that stream from the sun and stars.<\/p>\n By measuring changes inside such meteorites, researchers estimate how long they wandered between planets and when they landed on a world.<\/p>\n Back on Earth, scientists have identified hundreds of Martian meteorites<\/a>, then studied their chemistry to compare with rocks seen directly on Mars.<\/p>\n A confirmed meteorite sitting at Vernodden would flip that story, giving researchers a chunk of solar system metal that landed on Mars instead of Earth.<\/p>\n Late to the meteorite party<\/p>\n Spirit and Opportunity each spotted metal-rich meteorites during their long treks, proving Mars could preserve wandering space rocks for years.<\/p>\n In Gale Crater, the Curiosity rover examined Lebanon<\/a>, a roughly 2-yard-wide (1.8-meter-wide) metal meteorite that gleamed against the surrounding dusty surface.<\/p>\n Later, Curiosity rolled past Cacao<\/a>, an iron-rich meteorite with a 1 foot (30 centimeter) width that showed similar metallic composition.<\/p>\n Given that history, scientists wondered why Perseverance had not yet logged its own metal meteorite while crossing Jezero\u2019s floor and delta.<\/p>\n Examining Phippsaksla rock<\/p>\n Perseverance first spotted Phippsaksla with Mastcam-Z, twin-zoom cameras that provide detailed color views, as they scanned distant terrain for interesting textures.<\/p>\n The rover then used SuperCam<\/a>, a laser-based instrument that analyzes rock chemistry from several yards away, to examine the metal-rich target.<\/p>\n By vaporizing tiny spots on the surface, this system reads plasma with spectroscopy, a technique that identifies elements from their light.<\/p>\n The pattern of peaks in that data helps distinguish a metal meteorite from basaltic lavas that also contain iron.<\/p>\n Shaped by time and thin air<\/p>\n Up close, Phippsaksla shows deep pits and grooves that likely formed as softer material eroded away under the harsh Martian environment.<\/p>\n Processes called space weathering, surface changes driven by micrometeorite impacts and radiation, can darken and smooth metal surfaces over millions of years.<\/p>\n Because Mars has very little air and almost no liquid water<\/a> at the surface, corrosion there progresses differently than on Earth.<\/p>\n By comparing Phippsaksla\u2019s texture with weathering seen on metal meteorites, scientists hope to estimate how long it has rested on that ridge.<\/p>\n Clues about ancient Mars\u00a0<\/p>\n A meteorite on Jezero\u2019s rim would carry material from beyond the crater\u2019s watershed, adding an external datapoint to Mars\u2019 own geologic record.<\/p>\n If scientists can date the meteorite and rocks beneath it, they refine impact chronology, timelines of when collisions struck Mars.<\/p>\n Its mixture might resemble asteroids sampled by missions like Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx, letting researchers connect findings with pieces stored in Earth laboratories.<\/p>\n Placing an ancient lakebed and a metal visitor within one region gives scientists a fuller picture of Jezero\u2019s long history.<\/p>\n Why this find matters<\/p>\n For future crews living on Mars, metal-rich meteorites like Phippsaksla could someday provide handy sources of iron for tools or shielding.<\/p>\n Because their chemistry<\/a> differs so strongly from native rocks, they might be easier to spot, characterize, and safely process using robotic equipment.<\/p>\n Mapping how many metal chunks sit on different Martian surfaces helps engineers gauge landing hazards and durability needs for long-term infrastructure.<\/p>\n Data from Phippsaksla will feed models of object impacts on Mars, information that planners use when choosing sites for bases and sample depots.<\/p>\n Lessons from Phippsaksla rock<\/p>\n For now, the team treats Phippsaksla as a candidate meteorite, and plans follow-up observations to confirm its chemistry lacks Martian ingredients.<\/p>\n Engineers can command the rover\u2019s arm to brush, drill, or image the rock, giving instruments a view of its structure.<\/p>\n Whether Phippsaksla proves to be meteoritic metal or an unusual Martian rock<\/a>, the investigation adds another chapter to Perseverance\u2019s story of Jezero.<\/p>\n To observers on Earth, that lone boulder shows that even after decades of robotic exploration, Mars still holds startling surprises.<\/p>\n The study is published in a press release <\/a>by NASA.<\/p>\n Image credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter<\/a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.<\/p>\n Check us out on EarthSnap<\/a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls<\/a> and Earth.com.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover has spotted a desk-sized rock, nicknamed Phippsaksla, on Mars that looks suspiciously like an iron-rich…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3844],"tags":[70,413,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-681570","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-space","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115857933385355806","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}