Trip Ideas Attractions The Mars Perseverance Rover Has Picked Up a Hitchhiker — and NASA Says It's a Long Way From Home The "unexpected traveling companion" first hopped a ride on the front left wheel of the rover in February. By Alison Fox Alison Fox Instagram Twitter Alison Fox is a journalist whose work regularly appears in Travel + Leisure. She has also written for Parents.com, The Wall Street Journal, and amNewYork. She focuses on travel news and feature stories based on personal experiences and interviews. Born in Brooklyn and a lifelong traveler, she developed a love for exploring the world at an early age and hopes to visit every country. * Traveled to 50+ countries * Received a master's degree in journalism from Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University * Received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines Published on June 10, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech The Mars Perseverance rover has adopted a pet rock — or surprising hitchhiker — and has been taking care of it for four months. The "unexpected traveling companion" first hopped a ride on the front left wheel of the rover in February, according to NASA, and has been riding around ever since. So far, it's been transported more than 5.3 miles as the rover transmits images of the Red Planet to Earth. "This rock isn't doing any damage to the wheel, but throughout its (no doubt bumpy!) journey, it has clung on and made periodic appearances in our left Hazcam images," NASA wrote in a statement, adding, "Perseverance's pet rock has seen a lot on its travels… If this pet rock could talk, it might tell us about the changes it's noticed as we [traveled] back north through the Octavia E. Butler landing site, and then west, passing the spectacular remains of the former extent of the delta, 'Kodiak,' on our journey to the western Jezero delta." The pet rock, may fall off the wheel at some point and will likely land among rocks that are very different. "As one of our team members quipped this week, 'we might confuse a future Mars geologist who finds it out of place!'" NASA wrote. This isn't the first time a rover picked up a rocky traveling companion, the agency noted. About 18 years ago, the Spirit rover collected a "potato-sized" rock that lodged itself into the rear right wheel and had to be dislodged. And the Curiosity rover occasionally picked up rocks as well. But NASA noted the current Perseverance rock is "on its way to setting Mars hitch-hiking records!" The Perseverance rover landed on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021, to "seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth." Since it arrived, it has been tweeting and sending images. Later this month, the Grand Canyon will host a star party that kicks off with a Mars Perseverance presentation on June 18 to learn about the rover from someone who helped build it. Alison Fox is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure. When she's not in New York City, she likes to spend her time at the beach or exploring new destinations and hopes to visit every country in the world. Follow her adventures on Instagram. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit