NASA’s Perseverance discovers potential meteorite Phippsaksla on Mars

NASA Perseverance Rover may have stumbled upon a visitor from space – a strange shiny rock on Mars that scientists think could be a meteorite forged from the heart of an ancient asteroid.

According to a new blog post on the rover's mission page, the rock, nicknamed “Phippsaxla,” stood out in the flat, rugged terrain around it, prompting NASA scientists to take a closer look at it.

Tests revealed high levels of iron and nickel, the same elements found in meteorites that fell on both Mars and Earth.

While this isn't the first time a rover has discovered a metal rock on Mars, it could be a first for Perseverance. Earlier missions, including Curiosity, Opportunity and Spirit, have found iron-nickel meteorites scattered across the surface of Mars, making it even more surprising that Perseverance hasn't seen any until now, NASA says.

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Now, just beyond the crater's rim, the rover may have finally found it – a metal rock sitting on ancient rock formed by the impact. If confirmed, the discovery would put Perseverance on par with other rovers that have examined fragments of space visitors to the Red Planet.

To learn more about the rock, the team aimed Perseverance's SuperCam—an instrument that fires a laser to analyze a target's chemical composition—at Phippsaxla. The readings showed unusually high levels of iron and nickel, which NASA said strongly suggested meteorite origin.

Mounted on the rover's mast, SuperCam uses its laser to vaporize tiny pieces of material so sensors can detect elements inside from several meters away.

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The discovery is important, NASA noted, because iron and nickel are typically found together only in meteorites formed deep inside ancient asteroids, not in Martian bedrock.

If confirmed, Phippsaxla will join a long list of meteorites identified by previous missions, including Curiosity's “Lebanon” and “Cocoa” findsas well as metal fragments spotted by Opportunity and Spirit. NASA said each discovery helped scientists better understand how meteorites interact with the Martian surface over time.

Because Phippsaxla sits on top of an impact rock outside Jezero Crater, NASA scientists said its location could provide clues about how the rock formed and how it got there.

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For now, the agency said its team is continuing to study Phippsaxla's unusual composition to confirm whether it actually came from beyond Mars.

If it turns out to be a meteorite, the find would be a welcome milestone for Perseverance—and another reminder that even on a planet 140 million miles away, there are still surprises in the dust.

Perseverance, NASA's most advanced robot has traveled 293 million miles to date to reach Mars following the launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida on July 30, 2020. It landed at Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021, where it spent nearly four years searching for signs of ancient microbial life and exploring the planet's surface.

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Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the $2.7 billion rover is about 10 feet long, 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall—about 278 pounds heavier than its predecessor, Curiosity.

Powered by a plutonium generator, Perseverance is equipped with seven scientific instruments, a seven-foot robotic arm, and a hammer drill that allows it to collect samples that could one day return to Earth.

The mission will also help NASA prepare for future human exploration of Mars in the 2030s.