‘Sign of exciting discoveries...?’: NASA’s Perseverance rover spots ‘Zebra Rock’ on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover, last week, spotted a black-and-white striped rock on Mars, amazing the scientists and the internet alike. The rock is said to be “unlike any seen” on the planet before.

On discovering the rock, the space agency posed a question: “Is this a sign of exciting discoveries to come?”

What does the Perseverance rover do?

The Perseverance rover is on the hunt for ancient rocks that could teach mankind about the early Martian history. It has now nearly been a month since the rover began its climb up the steep slopes leading to the crater rim for the rock hunt.

While the tricky slopes made for a slow initial ascent, drive progress has improved as the Perseverance cruised along a flatter stretch.

From this overlook, the rover can now spot landmarks from earlier in the mission like the iconic ‘Kodiak’ butte on the hazy horizon, thick with dust from nearby dust storms.

Discovery of this ‘Zebra Rock’:

While driving across the pebbly terrain, beady-eyed team members spotted a cobble in the distance with hints of an unusual texture in low resolution Navcam images and gave it the name ‘Freya Castle’.

The team planned a multispectral observation using the Mastcam-Z camera in order to get a closer look before driving away.

When these data were downlinked a couple days later, after Perseverance had already left the area, it became clear just how unusual it was!

About ‘Zebra Rock’

‘Freya Castle’ is around 20 cm across and has a striking pattern with alternating black and white stripes.

The internet immediately lit up with speculation about what this “zebra rock” might be. However, the science team, NASA said, thinks that this rock has a texture unlike any seen in Jezero Crater before, and perhaps all of Mars.

NASA said its knowledge of Mars' chemical composition is limited, but early interpretations are that igneous and/or metamorphic processes could have created its stripes.

Since Freya Castle is a loose stone that is clearly different from the underlying bedrock, it has likely arrived here from someplace else, perhaps having rolled downhill from a source higher up.

This possibility has got NASA excited, as it hopes that as it continues to drive uphill, the Perseverance rover will encounter an outcrop of this new rock type so that more detailed measurements can be acquired.

‘Freya Castle’ is merely the latest in a series of intriguing rocks found recently; ever since arriving in the vicinity of the crater rim, the team has noticed an increased variety of rocks, such as the diverse collection of boulders at ‘Mount Washburn’.