NASA’s Perseverance Rover has discovered an object of likely extraterrestrial origin on Mars that experts say does not resemble the typical geology of the Red Planet.
The unusual rock was discovered on September 19, 2025, 1,629 days into the Mars 2020 mission, shortly after noon local time. NASA scientists have dubbed the strangely shaped rock “Phippsaksla,” making it the latest item of interest in the continued study of Mars.
Mars Perseverance Rover Spots Something Unusual
Since landing in the 28-mile-wide Jezero crater in 2021, Perseverance has focused on exploring the massive impact site, one of many dotting the Martian surface.
In a region just outside Jezero crater’s rim called Vernodden, one of the rover’s two high-mast-mounted cameras—the Left Mastcam-Z—observed something unusual against the loose dirt and flat, broken rocks: a much larger, 31-inch-wide rock protruding from its flat surroundings.
This sharp contrast with its surroundings led the mission team to decide that the strange rock was worth a closer examination. To do so, they used the rover’s SuperCam instrument, which offers a range of capabilities for exploring the Martian surface. Its capabilities include a camera, two lasers, and four spectrometers. It was designed to conduct the in-depth analyses required in the search for evidence of past or present life on the Red Planet.
Analyzing Phippsakla
At first glance, the rock has an odd appearance that NASA describes as “sculpted,” referring to short-term impacts and long-term geological processes rather than anything artificial. SuperCam’s readings, however, revealed that Phippsaksla’s composition may be even more intriguing than its unusual shape.
The instrument detected high levels of iron and nickel—an elemental signature commonly associated with meteorites. Still, despite these tell-tale signs, NASA says the rock’s composition is unusual enough to warrant additional analysis before concluding whether it is truly a meteorite or something else entirely.
If Phippsaksla is ultimately confirmed to be of extramartian origin, it would not be the first such find. Earlier rovers have discovered space rocks scattered across the Martian surface for more than a decade.
Meteorites on Mars
Mars bears extensive traces of ancient impacts, including Jezero Crater itself. On an earlier mission, NASA’s Curiosity rover made similar discoveries in Gale Crater. Both Jezero and Gale date to roughly the same era and are marked by smaller craters that reveal the Red Planet’s long history of bombardment by space debris.
Identified in 2014, Curiosity’s 39-inch-wide “Lebanon” meteorite was even larger than Phippsaksla. Another significant find, “Cacao,” was discovered on Mount Sharp in 2023. Both were conclusively identified as meteorites.
NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, also encountered meteorites. Landing in 2004, Spirit operated until 2010, while Opportunity continued through 2018. Their work uncovered not only intact meteorites but also trace readings indicating that Martian regolith in some areas contains substantial amounts of meteorite fragments.
Continued exploration of the Martian surface will shed new light on how the planet evolved into the harsh environment we see today—knowledge that will be essential as scientists plan for a human future on the Red Planet.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.
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