When it comes to life outside Earth, the name of the planet Mars is definitely mentioned. For the last 50 years, humans have been trying to find life on this planet. The similarity and distance of Mars from Earth is an important reason for this. But the question remains to this day whether life ever existed on Mars in the past.
But NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover set out to answer a big question of: Could Mars have supported ancient life? NASA’s Perseverance Rover has discovered the answer is Yes! Mars is geologically rich.
NASA’s Perseverance rover is well into its Second science campaign. In this campaign, the work of the rover was collecting rock-core samples from features within an area long considered by scientists to be a top prospect for finding signs of ancient microbial life on Mars. The rover has collected four samples from an ancient river delta in the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater since July 7, bringing the total count of scientifically compelling rock samples to 12.
After Scientist analysis indicates that the samples feature a class of organic molecules that are spatially correlated with those of sulfate minerals. Sulfate minerals found in layers of sedimentary rock can yield significant information about the aqueous environments in which they formed.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. And the samples which are collected by Perseverance during its exploration of an ancient river delta are thought to be the best opportunity to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for life.
