High Iron And Nickel Levels Suggest Meteorite Origin

Perseverance, NASA’s Mars rover, found a rock on the planet’s surface that may have come from an ancient asteroid impact. The rock, named "Phippsaksla," is shiny in appearance and stood out from the flat terrain around it, so scientists at NASA took a closer look at it and tests revealed high levels of nickel and iron. Those elements are typical of meteorites found on both Mars and Earth.

Other rovers have found metallic rocks on Mars but this may be the first for Perseverance. According to NASA, it’s actually somewhat surprising that Perseverance has not seen one until now, four years into its mission. Earlier rovers including Curiosity, Opportunity, and Spirit all discovered iron-nickel meteorites scattered about the Martian surface.

To test the rock, Perseverance’s SuperCam fires a laser to analyze a target rock’s chemical composition. The laser vaporizes a tiny bit of the rock’s material and sensors on the rover detect the elements in the sample. In the case of Phippsaksla, the results showed unusually high levels of nickel and iron, telltale elements of meteorite origin.

NASA reminds that nickel and iron are typically found together only in meteorites formed within ancient asteroids, not in Martian surface rocks.

If confirmed, Phippsaksla would be in the company of other meteorites identified by earlier missions, including Curiosity’s “Lebanon” and "Cacao” discoveries.

Perseverance is NASA’s most advance rover yet, having traveled 293 million miles to get to Mars after its launch on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida on July 30, 2020. It landed in Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021 and has been exploring the planet’s surface and for signs of ancient microbial life.

FMI:  www.nasa.gov/