Mars is full of surprises, but this one had scientists leaning closer to their multi-monitor arrays: a rock, about 31 inches across, sitting alone in a field of fractured bedrock in a region called Vernodden, that looked like it came from somewhere far beyond the red planet’s own backyard.
NASA’s Perseverance rover spotted the oddity in early September while surveying the terrain as part of the Mars 2020 mission. The team gave the formation a name: Phippsaksla. Up close, it doesn’t blend in with its surroundings at all. Instead of matching the usual local geology, the rock stands upright as i