Scientists have spotted a rock on Mars that looks like Swiss cheese. NASA's Perseverance Mars rover snapped a hollowed-out boulder in Jezero Crater on June 26.
It follows the sighting of what the space agency described as a "doughnut-shaped" rock on June 22. Perseverance used its Mastcam-Z instrument to photograph the latest unusual discovery. Its mission is to help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.
NASA explain: "Wind can erode all sorts of strange shapes by sandblasting rock surfaces over the course of eons."
Describing the doughnut rock, they said: "This particular rock may have formed after a smaller rock (or multiple rocks) eroded near its centre. That left behind a cavity that was later enlarged by the wind."
A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterise the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human visits to the planet.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
