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LOOK: ‘Lightsaber’ Spotted on Martian Surface in New Pic From NASA

As it turns out, you don’t have to venture to a galaxy far, far away to find evidence of the Jedi. It’s right here in the Milky Way. More specifically, on the surface of our celestial neighbor, Mars. Well, sort of. When NASA posted an image documenting the recent efforts of the Perseverance rover (Percy, for short), Star Wars fans couldn’t help but point out that its sample tube looked a lot like an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

Any Star Wars fan has to admit – the resemblance is uncanny. And all across social media, they did. As pictures of the “lightsaber” circulated the internet, Star Wars fans took to the comments to make Jedi jokes.

“If only they’d been able to leave a rubber severed hand next to it,” one fan laughed. “These are the samples you’re looking for…” joked another. “Mars is Tatooine,” added a third.

Sadly, the mysterious metal object is not a lightsaber (though it’s fun to pretend). Instead, it’s a titanium tube containing a rock sample gathered by Perseverance, NASA’s Mars rover. And it’s not the only one. At least, it won’t be in a few weeks.

NASA Explains True Identity of ‘Lightsaber’ Spotted on Mars

Over the next two months, Percy will drop a total of 10 sample tubes in “Three Forks,” the area of Mars most recently explored by the rover. In doing so, it will create humanity’s first sample depot on another planet.

Why drop rock-filled tubs on the Martian surface? Well, they’re Percy’s backup plan. Ideally, the rover will deliver the samples in its belly to a future robotic lander. The lander would then place the samples in a containment capsule inside a small rocket. From there, the rocket would blast off, carrying the sample container from the Martian surface and returning it safely to NASA scientists here on Earth.

But just in case Perseverance can’t deliver its samples for whatever reason, a pair of Sample Recovery Helicopters would be deployed, collecting the lightsaber-esque sample tubes from Three Forks.

With the recent “death” of NASA’s InSight lander due to Martian debris, many space enthusiasts expressed concern that these tubes would fall victim to the red dust as well. Scientists, however, say this isn’t a concern.

“Some of you are wondering about the samples Percy putting down. Could the Martian wind blow them away, or cover them with sand over time?” NASA wrote in a recent Instagram post. “Mars does get windy, but not like on Earth. The atmosphere here is much less dense: about 1/100th that of Earth’s. Winds around here can pick up speed, but they don’t pick up a lot of stuff. Think fast, but not strong.”

“Martian wind can certainly lift fine dust and leave it on surfaces,” they continued. “(It’s spelled the eventual end of more than one solar-powered explorer). But for the sample tubes, it shouldn’t be a big problem.”