NASA's Perseverance rover has captured a fascinating image of a Martian rock that strikingly resembles a turtle poking its head out of its shell. The rock's unique shape has sparked comparisons to a reptile, complete with a "head," "eyes," and "front legs" protruding from a protective "shell".
The image was captured on August 31, 2025 (Sol 1610) at the local mean solar time of 14:24:00. According to NASA, the image was acquired by the SHERLOC WATSON camera fitted on the turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm.
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As per Live Science, the image was taken somewhere in the Jezero Crater, which is a 28-mile-wide (45 kilometres) depression on the Red Planet. It is the same region where the rover touched down in 2021, and scientists believe that Jezero Crater previously contained a large lake.
The image is currently unclear, and so far, the reason behind this unusual shape is not known. But this isn't the first time that a Martian rock has looked similar to something that we se on Earth, such as "blueberries", "human-like fingerprints", "spider web", and more.
The report mentioned that the turtle-like appearance is likely due to pareidolia, which is a psychological phenomenon where humans perceive familiar patterns in random objects.
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NASA to Share Details of New Perseverance Mars Rover Finding
The internet is abuzz after NASA recently said that it will host a media teleconference on Wednesday (September 10) to discuss the analysis of a rock sampled by the Perseverance Mars rover last year, which is the subject of a forthcoming science paper.
Well, it is not about the turtle-looking rock. The press conference is about a sample, called "Sapphire Canyon," that was collected in July 2024 from a set of rocky outcrops on the edges of Neretva Vallis, a river valley carved by water rushing into Jezero Crater long ago.
