July 30, 2024

NASA Rover Finds Mars Rock Indicating Possible Microbial Life

Spots found on a reddish Mars rock by NASA's Perseverance rover suggest that chemical reactions in the rock could have supported microbial life on the red planet billions of years ago.

According to NASA, the rock, named "Cheyava Falls," exhibits qualities that might indicate ancient life. Analysis by the rover's instruments suggests that the rock possesses chemical signatures and structures potentially formed by life when the area contained running water.

Collected on July 21, the rock is the rover's 22nd rock core sample and was found on the northern edge of an ancient Martian river valley called Neretva Vallis. This valley was carved by water flowing into the Jezero Crater long ago.

"We have designed the route for Perseverance to ensure it goes to areas with the potential for interesting scientific samples," said Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "This trip through the Neretva Vallis riverbed paid off as we found something we've never seen before, which will give our scientists so much to study."

The rock was scanned by the rover's SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) instrument, which indicated the presence of organic compounds. These carbon-based molecules are molecular building blocks of life but can also be formed by non-biological processes.

"Cheyava Falls is the most puzzling, complex, and potentially important rock yet investigated by Perseverance," said Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist at Caltech in Pasadena. He noted that while there's evidence of chemical reactions that microbial life could utilize, alongside clear signs of water, the exact formation process of the rock remains undetermined.

Olivine crystals, a mineral formed from magma, were also discovered in the veins of the rock. This raises questions about whether the mineral and sulfate were introduced into the rock at high temperatures, creating a chemical reaction resulting in the leopard-like spots observed.

"To fully understand what really happened in that Martian river valley at Jezero Crater billions of years ago, we'd want to bring the Cheyava Falls sample back to Earth, so it can be studied with the powerful instruments available in laboratories," Farley added.