NASA's Mars rover lost its beloved "pet" with whom it spent almost a year

After a year together on the Red Planet, the paths of NASA's Perseverance rover and its traveling

The hitchhiker of the “favorite pet stone” went their separate ways. A piece of Martian rock got stuck in one of the rover's wheels and spent more than half of the mission with it.

The Perseverance rover has an unexpected companion on Mars

Perseverance accidentally "picked up" the stoneFebruary 4, 2022 or Sol 341—the 341st Martian day of the mission. Sols are solar or Martian days, 37 minutes longer than those on Earth. The rock posed no threat to the rover's science mission, but it became firmly attached to the rover's wheel despite several vigorous maneuvers across the planet's surface.

Image of Perseverance with a rock stuck in the front left wheel of an all-terrain vehicle, taken May 26. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA recently released an image of the frontleft wheel of the rover. It showed that the stone had disappeared. In total, it remained in the rover's wheel for about 439 days (427 sols)—about 55% of the time Perseverance has spent on Mars since landing on February 18, 2021. During this time, the “couple” traveled together about 10 km.

Perseverance photographed April 18th. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“Farewell, fellow rock, you will be missed,” Gwenael Caravaca, Perseverance mission scientist, wrote on social media.

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