Science BGR NASA’s Perseverance Rover Might Have Discovered Something Alien On Mars

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The Mars Perseverance rover has been investigating the Jezero Crater and came across something that is not native to Mars at all. It is a meteorite that collided with the red planet. Though various rovers have found meteorites on Mars before, this is the first time NASA’s Perseverance rover has found one on its journey to look for signs of life on Mars — though it might be worth mentioning that the chance for life on Mars might not be as high as we hoped.

Perseverance has been exploring Mars since it landed in February 2021, and the rover has collected 30 out of an expected 38 samples during its mission.. The fact that it hadn’t yet found any meteorites within the crater was puzzling to scientists, so this find is an exciting one.

It is still being confirmed that what Perseverance found is a meteorite, but based on initial imaging and scans, it fits the bill. This is an important discovery, because finding and analyzing meteorites that have crashed on Mars helps us better understand our neighboring planet and the way meteorites behave on it.

Read more: What Happened To NASA’s Voyager 1 Probe?

Details on the Perseverance meteorite discovery

Perseverance has been doing good work the last few years, including taking a stunning panoramic photo of Mars. But as Perseverance was investigating the Jezero Crater, it came upon a rock that stood out from the others. Measured at about 2.5 feet across, it had a unique appearance compared to the rocks that surrounded it. The rock was referred to as Phippsaksla. It was decided this rock needed further analysis to determine what it was.

Perseverance used the laser component of its SuperCam to get readings on the composition of the rock. SuperCam showed that Phippsaksla had a high nickel and iron content, which is a trademark of meteorites that come from asteroids. This informed scientists that Phippsaksla was not native to Mars at all, and had traveled there from elsewhere within the solar system.

Interestingly, Phippsaksla was actually found in September 2025; due to the government shutdown halting many operations, NASA did not make this finding public until November 2025. But this isn’t the first time meteorites have been discovered on the red planet. The Curiosity rover found a meteorite called Cacao in 2023 and one called Lebanon in 2014. Other Mars rovers have found more meteorites on their own missions. Now, the Perseverance rover can proudly claim a meteorite finding of its own.

Why meteorites on Mars are important

Finding meteorites on Mars helps scientists to further understand the planet and the solar system itself. It is theorized that on Mars, iron-based meteorites can resist erosion, a theory supported by the condition in which these meteorites are found. More samples will only help to determine whether this theory is true or not.

NASA scientists also study meteorites to learn more about the solar system and where they originated from. For example, meteorites can contain dust from a time before our own solar system was developed. Others contain materials that are billions of years old, assisting scientists in learning about the history of our solar system.

Not everything found on Mars is as easily identified as meteorites, though. The Perseverance rover itself stumbled across a rock that NASA has not been able to fully understand quite yet. As rovers continue to find interesting discoveries and more meteorites, scientists can use them in ongoing research efforts to try and answer these strange questions. For now, NASA will look into Phippsaksla to confirm that is, indeed, a meteorite, and to see what else can be learned from it.

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