The Perseverance Rover Spotted A Rock That May Be The Strongest Sign Of Ancient Life Yet

NASA's Perseverance rover has been exploring Mars' Jezero Crater since 2021 with the primary objective to investigate the environments that could have supported life in the past on the Red Planet. 

In order to do that, the rover is busy collecting samples for possible return to Earth, where they can be meticulously studied. Jezero Crater was the obvious choice for research because orbital data revealed evidence of abundant water in ancient times; there's an old (now dry) river delta that used to supply Jezero Crater with water. 

After all, the name Jezero, in some Slavic languages, means "lake." What's more, this former lake might have just done a lot to help Perseverance find signs of ancient Martian life -- rocks with strange patterns potentially created by organic reactions.

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NASA announces "groundbreaking discovery" of life on Mars

A recent analysis of the Sapphire Canyon mudstone core, drilled by NASA’s Perseverance rover in July 2024, adds new and convincing evidence to the ongoing search for life on Mars.

The study describes minerals and textures that – on Earth – are often linked to microbial activity. At the same time, the authors stress that some unknown, nonbiological chemistry could also explain the signals.

“This finding by Perseverance is the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars. The identification of a potential biosignature on the Red Planet is a groundbreaking discovery, and one that will advance our understanding of Mars,” said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy.

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Ridiges of South Seitah

NASA’s Perseverance rover captures a geologic feature with details that offer clues to the area’s mysterious past.

Ask any space explorer, and they’ll have a favorite photograph or two from their mission. 

For Jorge Núñez, an astrobiologist and planetary scientist working on the science team of NASA’s Perseverance rover, one of his current favorites is a rover’s-eye panorama of the “South Séítah” region of Mars’ Jezero Crater. 

Exploring the geologic unit was among the major objectives of the team’s first science campaign because it may contain some of the deepest, and potentially oldest, rocks in the giant crater.

“Just like any excited tourist approaching the end of a major road trip, we stopped at a lookout to get a first view of our destination,” said Núñez, who is based at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. 

“This panorama is spectacular because you feel like you are there. It shows not only the incredible scale of the area, but also all the exploration possibilities South Séítah has to offer. With multiple intriguing rocky outcrops and ridgelines, each one is seemingly better than the last. If it’s not a field geologist’s dream, it’s pretty close.”

Composed of 84 individual enhanced-color images that were later stitched together, the mosaic was taken on September 12 (the 201st Martian day, or sol, of the mission) by the Mastcam-Z camera system as the rover was parked on an elevated overlook just outside its entry point into South Séítah. 

Perseverance had just completed a record 190-yard (175-meter) drive the previous sol.  READ MORE...