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An image of Perseverance’s “pet rock” stuck in the rover’s front left wheel taken on May 26. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

After more than a year together on the Red Planet, NASA’s Perseverance rover and its hitchhiking “pet rock” have finally parted ways. The stone had been lodged in one of the rover’s wheels for more than half of its mission on Mars.

Perseverance accidentally picked up the pet rock in its front left wheel on Feb. 4, 2022 or Sol 341 — the 341st Martian day of the mission. The rock posed no danger to the rover’s scientific mission but did manage to periodically photobomb images and cling on despite several vigorous maneuvers across the planet’s surface. Mission scientists previously likened the situation to “having a pebble stuck in your shoe.”

On April 18 (Sol 768), NASA released an image (opens in new tab) of the rover’s front left wheel showing the rock had been dislodged. In total, the rock remained in the rover’s wheel for around 439 days (427 Sols) — around 55% of the time Perseverance has spent on Mars since landing there on Feb 18, 2021. During that time, the pair traveled around 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) together. (A sol, or Martian day, is 37 minutes longer than an Earth day.)

“Farewell ‘Rock Friend,’ you will be missed,” Perseverance mission scientist Gwénaël Caravaca (opens in new tab) , wrote on Twitter (opens in new tab) .

Related: Listen to a Martian dust storm engulf the Perseverance rover in eerie, world-first audio recording

Perseverance’s now-empty wheel photographed on April 18. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

During its mission, Perseverance has picked up several other smaller rocks in its other wheels. But these all fell out within a couple of days or weeks of getting stuck, and posed no threat to the wandering robot. However, rocks lodged in other places have previously caused problems for the rover.RELATED STORIES—Perseverance Rover spotted from space in striking new satellite image

—Why Perseverance rover fumbled 1st sampling attempt on Mars

—Perseverance rover snaps stunning images of Mars after communications blackout  

A bunch of small pebbles fell into part of Perseverance’s inner machinery in December 2021, causing the rover to shut down for almost a week before mission scientists could figure out a way to safely remove them.

Hitchhiking rocks have also caused issues on other Mars rovers. Operators of NASA’s Spirit rover — which roamed the Red Planet between January 2004 and March 2010 — had to perform a sharp turn to shake out a “potato-sized” stone from its right-rear wheel in December 2004. Mission scientists, performed this maneuver because they feared it would cause significant damage to the rover, according to NASA (opens in new tab) .

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Dolly Parton says ‘I ain’t dead yet’ after health fears triggered by singer’s sister

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Dolly Parton says 'I ain’t dead yet' after health fears triggered by singer's sister

Dolly Parton has declared she “ain’t dead yet” after her sister raised concerns about the singer’s health by asking people to pray for her.

“There are just a lot of rumours flying around. But I figured if you heard it from me, you’d know that I was okay,” the 79-year-old singer said in a new two-minute video posted on social media.

“I’m not ready to die yet. I don’t think God is through with me. And I ain’t done working,” she added.

In the footage, captioned “I ain’t dead yet!”, the 9 to 5 singer is seen on a set speaking directly to the camera.

On Tuesday, a Facebook post shared by her sister Freida Parton escalated concerns around Parton’s health when she wrote that she had been “up all night praying for my sister, Dolly”.

Hours later, Freida Parton followed up with a clarification. “I want to clear something up. I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly,” she wrote.

“She’s been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer.”

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Dolly Parton during a concert in Nashville, Tennessee, in March. Pic: AP
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Dolly Parton during a concert in Nashville, Tennessee, in March. Pic: AP

Last month, Parton postponed her first Las Vegas residency in 32 years, citing “health challenges”.

She was scheduled to perform six shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in December. The dates have been moved to next September

Parton offered her own clarification about her health condition in Wednesday’s video.

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“Everyone thinks that I am sicker than I am. Do I look sick to you? I’m working hard here! Anyway, I wanted to put everybody’s mind at ease, those of you who seem to be real concerned, which I appreciate,” she continued.

“And I appreciate your prayers because I’m a person of faith. I can always use the prayers for anything and everything.”

Dolly Parton performs with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in 2023. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Dolly Parton performs with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in 2023. Pic: Reuters

She also referenced her late husband of nearly 60 years Carl Dean who died earlier this year at the age of 82.

“I want you to know that I’m OK. I’ve got some problems as I’ve mentioned. Back when my husband Carl was very sick, that was for a long time, and then when he passed, I didn’t take care of myself. So I let a lot of things go that I should’ve been taking care of,” she said.

“So anyway, when I got around to it, the doctor said: ‘We need to take care of this. We need to take care of that.’ Nothing major, but I did have to cancel some things so I could be closer to home, closer to Vanderbilt, where I’m kind of having a few treatments here and there.”

And in true Parton fashion, she ended with a joke: “I wanted you to know that I’m not dying”.

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Coach Sanders back at Colorado practice

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Coach Sanders back at Colorado practice

Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders was back at practice Wednesday, a day after undergoing surgery related to his blood clots.

Sanders had a procedure called an aspiration thrombectomy, which involves the left popliteal — located behind the knee — and tibial arteries. He appears on track to be on the sideline Saturday when the Buffaloes (2-4, 0-3 Big 12) host No. 22 Iowa State (5-1, 2-1).

His son Deion Sanders Jr. posted a short video of him on social media Wednesday as the Buffaloes coach stood at the 35-yard-line with a play sheet dangling from his waist. His team was practicing on the other side of the 50.

On Tuesday night, in a video posted by Well Off Media, which chronicles the Buffaloes, Sanders and his medical team talked about the procedure that would clean out his arteries to prevent more clots. Sanders said it was his 16th surgery over the past few years.

“Same position,” Sanders said as he got comfortable in the hospital bed. “Never doubting God. Never stressing. Never second-guessing.”

Sanders received a visit from longtime NFL cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones, who gave his friend a kiss on the head. Sanders also took calls from sons Shedeur and Shilo.

“If you give me $5 million just to have, I will make sure that you don’t have to get surgery anymore,” Shilo Sanders cracked on the phone call.

“I know where your care is coming from,” his dad playfully responded. “I don’t want nothing to do with your care.”

“If you give me five, I’ll make sure you’re alive,” Shilo said, drawing a laugh from his father and Jones.

Soon after, Deion Sanders was taken away to the operating room.

The 58-year-old was in pain during a 35-21 loss at TCU last Saturday, alternating between sitting and limping along the sideline with his leg throbbing. He didn’t wear a shoe on his left foot in the second half, and after the game he said he was “hurting like crazy.”

Sanders dealt with blood clot issues while at Jackson State in 2021, with doctors amputating two of the toes on his left foot. He also skipped a Pac-12 media day session in 2023 following a procedure to remove a blood clot from his right leg and another to straighten toes on his left foot.

Last spring, Sanders was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bladder cancer. He revealed details of his treatment, which involved doctors removing his bladder and reconstructing a section of his intestine to function as a bladder.

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Follow live: Must-win for Cubs as Brewers seek sweep

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