Technologies

Sorry, This NASA Mars Rover Image Doesn’t Show a Flying UFO

It’s never aliens, but at least there’s a good explanation for what it really is.

This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series exploring the red planet.

Every morning, I make time to browse through raw images of Mars sent back by NASA’s rovers. I ooh and ah over the rock formations, and sometimes spot something goofy, like a mysterious black object hovering in a Perseverance rover image from Sunday.

The image comes from Percy’s left navigation camera. It shows a striking rock-strewn landscape and a hazy sky where the dark object appears.

So what’s going on here? It’s not aliens. A Reddit discussion of the image in a group dedicated to Mars resulted in some humorous takes on what it might be, like an ant or a plastic bag. The black shape resembles a speck of dirt or a piece of debris flying over Jezero Crater, but it’s not any of those things.

The dark object in the sky doesn’t actually exist. It’s a result of a camera artifact issue called «bad» pixels. «They are caused by micron-sized pieces of debris on the detector. Most/all imagers have these kinds of artifacts,» imaging scientist Justin Maki said in an email statement from NASA JPL. «They are generally only noticeable when the camera acquires images of the sky or some otherwise flat radiometric surface.»

If you’re not convinced, check out another left Navcam image from Sunday. The same dark streak appears, but this time it’s in the middle of a sandy landscape.

The bad-pixels issue has reared its head at other times. NASA’s Curiosity rover, which is exploring the Gale Crater in a different area of Mars, snapped a similar sky «object» in early October. As with the Percy image, it appeared as a dark spot floating in the air.

Perseverance camera team members addressed the «odd tiny black speck» artifacts in a blog post last year in relation to the rover’s mast-mounted cameras. Image processors are aware of the problem pixels and correct for them. We see the specks in the raw images sent back by the rovers because the photos haven’t been cleaned up yet.

Perseverance has been in residence on Mars since early 2021 and it’s already witnessed plenty of real-life oddball objects, like this spaghetti-like bundle of debris and a shiny piece of foil left over from its landing operations.

Camera specks are a fact of life for the Mars rovers. Our technology is amazing, but it’s not perfect. If anything, it’s a reminder of just how impressive an achievement the rovers are. Wheeled laboratories. On Mars. Sending snapshots home almost every day. Wow.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Nov. 29

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 29.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s Saturday, so it’s a long one. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Hockey disks
Answer: PUCKS

6A clue: Signature headwear for Mr. Monopoly
Answer: TOPHAT

7A clue: Seedy establishment?
Answer: NURSERY

8A clue: Bioweapon at the center of a 2001 envelope scare
Answer: ANTHRAX

9A clue: Cleverly skillful
Answer: ADROIT

10A clue: Sleeping enclosure for a pet dog
Answer: CRATE

11A clue: Picks up the tab
Answer: PAYS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Play, as a film character
Answer: PORTRAY

2D clue: Ultimate consequences
Answer: UPSHOTS

3D clue: Sweetheart, in French
Answer: CHERIE

4D clue: 24-___ gold
Answer: KARAT

5D clue: River in which Achilles was dipped (except for his heel!)
Answer: STYX

6D clue: Frozen landscape
Answer: TUNDRA

7D clue: Civil rights org. co-founded by W.E.B. Du Bois
Answer: NAACP

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Technologies

Repair Your Electronics at Home With This Rare Black Friday Discount on the iFixit Pro Tech Go Toolkit

This toolkit rarely goes on sale, so take advantage of this opportunity to snag it for only $40.

While Black Friday is an excellent time to replace old smartphones or broken laptops at a discount, not everyone is looking to splurge on new tech right now. If you’re shopping on a budget, or simply like the devices that you have and aren’t ready for an upgrade, investing in an electronics repair kit may be a wise option. We’ve spotted a discount on the iFixit Pro Tech Go tech toolkit, bringing its price down to just $40. But don’t delay, Black Friday is in its final hours and this kit rarely goes on sale.

The iFixit Pro Tech Go kit can be used to open up and repair a wide range of electronics, including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, and smart home devices for DIY repairs like battery or screen replacements. The kit has a 32-bit Moray driver kit, an opening tool, a suction handle, a jimmy, a spudger and angled tweezer to carefully open your devices.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Repairing your own tech can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. It also reduces e-waste by helping your devices last longer rather than throwing them away over minor issue. As of this year, all 50 states have introduced right-to-repair legislation designed to give people a legal right to fix their own tech, and several states have already signed it into law.

You can check out more deals from iFixIt now on Amazon. Plus, for other budget buys, check out our roundup of the best Black Friday deals under $100.

MOBILE DEALS OF THE WEEK

iPhone 17 Pro on Us With Any Condition Trade-in and Qualifying Plan
Google Pixel 10 Pro 128GB Unlocked Phone (Obsidian):

$749 (save $250)
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE 128GB Unlocked Phone (JetBlack):

$475 (save $175)
Google Pixel 9 128GB Unlocked Phone (Obsidian):

$499 (save $300)
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 256GB Unlocked AI Phone (Titanium Black):

$900 (save $400)

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Why this deal matters

This is a record low price on a repair kit that rarely goes on sale. While we did see a modest discount on the iFixit Pro Tech Go toolkit during Amazon Prime Day in July, it was not marked down for October Prime Day or other sales such as Memorial Day or Labor Day. As such, it’s fairly unlikely that we’ll see it go on sale again this season, so this might be your last chance to get the toolkit for only $40.

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