Anthropologists urge NASA to preserve human-made artifacts on Mars

Anthropologists are urging NASA to catalog human-made objects on Mars, viewing them as important artifacts rather than trash. This proposal comes as debris from past missions, like the Perseverance rover, risks being buried by Martian conditions. Since the first spacecraft landed on Mars in 1971, various items, including broken spacecraft and rover tracks, have accumulated on the planet's surface. Researchers emphasize the need to preserve these artifacts before they are lost to the harsh environment. Currently, NASA does not have plans to create a centralized inventory of these objects. However, each mission team tracks its own hardware, which could be compiled into a comprehensive catalog.