Perseverance rover, which is studying the Red Planet, collected 12 soil samples. According to CNET, while studying these samples, the mission team noticed some strange objects that were stuck in the collection system..

As part of the standard procedure, after collecting samples, the rover takes close-up pictures of some components of the system..

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“In these images, we saw two small pieces of debris - a small object on a core bit (stored in a carousel) and a small object on a drill chuck,” said NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Project Manager Art Thompson..

One of these objects is easy to spot in the images published by the mission team.. It resembles a thin white thread, like the one that can unwind from a button on a shirt..

Thompson's team is currently working to find out what these fragments are and where they could come from.. They are likely part of the rover itself, as well as the entry, descent and landing (EDL) system that helped it land on Mars in 2021..

This is not the first time strange fragments have been discovered on the Red Planet.. Previously, Perseverance found mysterious "

Recall that NASA endowed the Perseverance rover with the ability to independently select targets for collecting samples, which should accelerate the development of science on Mars.. Without direct guidance from Earth, the rover fired at two targets with its SuperCam instrument..