---
title: "NASA Finally Figured Out What That Weird Spaghetti It Found on Mars Was"
description: "Last month, NASA’s Perseverance rover spotted an unknown, noodle-like object on Mars. Now the space agency has identified what actually is."
date: "2022-08-03"
modified: "2022-08-03"
authors:
  - name: "Frank Landymore"
    job_title: "Contributing Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-figured-out-spaghetti-mars"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "mars"
  - "mars rover"
  - "perseverance"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Finally Figured Out What That Weird Spaghetti It Found on Mars Was

![Last month, NASA’s Perseverance rover spotted an unknown, noodle-like object on Mars. Now the space agency has identified what actually is.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/nasa-figured-out-spaghetti-mars.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Spooky Spaghetti

Last month, NASA’s Perseverance rover spotted an mysterious noodle-like object on Mars.

Appearing to be some sort of messy bundle of string, the object was [first captured](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-noodle-object-mars>) by the Mars rover’s camera on July 12 before mysteriously vanishing just [four days later](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/noodle-like-object-mars-disappeared-nasa-photos>).

NASA was adamant that the stringy object was terrestrial in origin and not some Martian’s spilt ramen, [speculating that](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/noodle-like-object-mars-disappeared-nasa-photos>) it’s likely "a piece of cord from the parachute or from the landing system that lowers the \[Perseverance\] rover to the ground."

And now, as it turns out, the space agency wasn’t that far off. In [a statement](<https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/status/394/images-of-edl-debris/>) on Monday, NASA declared that the unknown object is nothing but a piece of Dacron netting, putting this Mars mystery to bed.

Dacron is a polyester fiber used as netting in thermal blankets, and while it may look unrecognizable now, that’s because it "appears to have undergone significant unraveling/shredding, suggesting that it was subjected to strong forces," according to NASA.

## Space Litter

When the Perseverance rover [landed on Mars](<https://futurism.com/nasa-successfully-lands-perseverance-rover-mars>) in February of last year, its entry, descent, and landing (EDL) hardware flew off to crash a safe distance away. The EDL's impact scattered debris across the Martian surface, and that’s where the Dacron netting came from.

Considering that it crashed some 1.4 miles away from the rover, the material has traveled impressively far, likely due to wind, NASA said.

For the most part, a bundle of polyester string blowing around Mars is pretty harmless and amusing, but NASA isn’t messing around: team members are investigating photos of the material as it "may pose as a potential contamination source for the sample tubes" in the area where it was found, the space agency said — but fortunately, there aren’t any "immediate concerns."

There’s also a risk of the shredded material becoming entangled with the Perseverance rover itself, but NASA engineers deemed the risk to be "low."

In short, NASA doesn't see the Martian spaghetti as too much of a threat. After all, space debris being discarded on the Martian surface is quickly becoming a [pretty common occurrence](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-accuses-nasa-mars-litter>).

**More on Mars:** [NASA Says It's Sending Two More Ingenuity-Class Helicopters to Mars](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-sending-two-more-ingenuity-chelicopters-mars>)

## Author
At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/f-w-l.bsky.social>)