NASA's Perseverance Rover Discovers a Doughnut-Shaped Rock on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover has made an intriguing discovery on Mars—a large, dark rock with a hole in the center. The rock, which resembles a doughnut, was captured in a photograph taken on Friday, June 23. It is surrounded by other rocks of a similar shade, indicating a shared origin that could extend beyond Mars.

It is suggested that the doughnut-shaped rock may be a large meteorite accompanied by smaller fragments. This finding is not unprecedented, as Perseverance had already spotted a potential meteorite just a few weeks after landing on Mars in February 2021.

Perseverance is currently exploring the Jezero Crater, a 28-mile-wide Mars crater that once contained a large lake and a river delta billions of years ago. The car-sized rover is studying this ancient environment, searching for signs of past life and collecting samples for future analysis on Earth.