NASA’s Perseverance Rover Finds Strange Rocks on Mars

The NASA rover Perseverance recently discovered a strange rock on [Mars](https://www.wired.com/tag/mars/), which appears to be made up of small rounded stones a few hundred millimeters in diameter and could indicate that there was once a large amount of liquid water on the Red Planet. [NASA’s](https://www.wired.com/tag/nasa/) research team is trying to determine its origin.

Perseverance was launched in July 2020 with the mission of searching for traces of microorganisms that may have existed on Mars in ancient times. It carries [seven scientific instruments](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/science-instruments/), including SuperCam, which uses cameras, lasers, and spectrometers to study the Martian surface, and Mastcam-Z, a camera with a special filter to increase resolution, which is used to record high-definition video as well as panoramic color and 3D images. The rover is exploring the [Jezero Crater](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/#landing-site-jezero-crater), a region of Mars thought to have once been a river delta.

This is not the first time such a strange rock has been discovered on the Red Planet. In the past, Martian rovers have discovered a number of strange objects that could hold important clues as to the geological history of Mars.

Read the full story: [https://www.wired.com/story/nasa-rover-finds-strange-rocks-on-mars-perseverance-curiosity/](https://www.wired.com/story/nasa-rover-finds-strange-rocks-on-mars-perseverance-curiosity/)

For “small rounded stones a few hundred millimeters in diameter” read “rock comprised of hundreds of millimeter-sized spheres”.