Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover spotted some debris on the surface of Mars. The glossy litter should be known with perseverance, as it looks like a piece of thermal blanket of Rover descent in early 2021.
The thermal blanket was used to control the temperature, and it was in Perseverance’s rocket-propelled jet pack that the rover used to control landings on Mars. Thermal blanket Important for any successful space mission. Thermal blankets are made using multiple layers of Miller film with dacron netting. The outer layer relies on Captain film or beta cloth, which helps to prevent temperature changes.
My team saw something unexpected: it was a piece of thermal blanket they thought came from my landing stage, a rocket-propelled jet pack that gave me back the day I landed in 2021. pic.twitter.com/O4rIaEABLu
– NASA Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) June 15, 2022
The piece of thermal blanket is not the first Detritus to persevere on Mars. In April, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter photographed the wreckage from Perseverance’s successful landing on Mars. Photos of the wreckage will help NASA engineers on future missions
Here is a part of the JPL team that wrapped me in a thermal blanket. Think of them as spacecraft costume makers. They work with sewing machines and other tools to assemble these unique materials.
Here’s more about it: https://t.co/CNkUheYFnQ pic.twitter.com/PcMeow3FyO
– NASA Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) June 15, 2022
While it is clear why the wreckage of the landing mission is on the surface of Mars, it is not clear why a piece of thermal blanket was observed, at least not in the area where it was observed. NASA’s perseverance team wrote, ‘It’s amazing to find: my descent stage has collapsed about 2km away. Did the piece fall here then, or was it blown up here? ‘