[UPDATE] Mars Litter Captured by NASA Perseverance Rover Creates Red Planet Pollution Concerns

The latest Mars litter captured by NASA's Perseverance rover is now concerning experts. The international space union spotted this space debris on June 15.

[UPDATE] Mars Litter Captured by NASA Perseverance Rover Creates Red Planet Pollution Concerns
In this handout image provided by NASA, still image is part of a video taken by several cameras aboard the descent stage as NASA’s Perseverance rover as it touched down in the area known as Jezero crater on February 18, 2021 on the planet Mars. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. Photo by NASA via Getty Images

To show the actual appearance of the trash to people, NASA shared their captured images on Twitter, which generated more than 22,000 likes, 560 quote tweets, and 1,900 retweets.

In the comment section, some people shared their concerns since the object is considered trash.

"So it's not enough to trash the earth, we're littering on other planets now. This can't possibly backfire," said one of the Twitter users.

Now, space experts also believe that the piece of thermal blanket can put the Red Planet at risk of pollution.

Mars Litter Now Concerns Experts

According to The Guardian's latest report, the new images showing the Mars litter create concerns. Space experts claim that this piece of the thermal blanket is a sign that space explorations can have negative impacts on the Red Planet.

[UPDATE] Mars Litter Captured by NASA Perseverance Rover Creates Red Planet Pollution Concerns
Mars' own Grand Canyon, Valles Marineris, is shown on the surface of the planet in this composite image made aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. The image was taken from a video featuring high-resolution images from Arizona State University's Thermal Emission Imaging System multi-band camera on board the spacecraft. Photo by NASA/Arizona State University via Getty Images

They are specifically pertaining to possible space pollution on Mars.

If this is true, then NASA needs to fix this problem since the Outer Space Treaty 1967 states that space companies should prevent harmful contamination of outer space, celestial bodies, the moon, and other space objects.

Because of this, Prof. Andrew Coates, a UCL Mullard Space Laboratory space expert, clarified that the latest Mars litter is not a big deal.

"The good news is that everything is sterilized before it goes to Mars, and the space radiation environment helps during the nine-month trip to Mars as does the harsh surface environment," explained Prof. Coates.

Space Debris Worsening?

Ars Technica reported that the Earth's orbital debris is now worsening. Since most objects brought to space don't easily decompose, they commonly float around the planet.

There's also a chance that these space debris can change their orbit, leaving the Earth's region and flying off to other space areas.

If you want to see more details about the orbiting space debris issue, you can visit this link.

On the other hand, a NASA Artemis astronaut could capture a stunning image of the moon.

Meanwhile, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a white dwarf star destroying another planet.

For more news updates about NASA's Perseverance rover and its upcoming discoveries, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

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Written by: Griffin Davis

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