NASA’s Perseverance Mars has uncovered unusual features in rocks that suggest there may have once been life on the Red Planet, according to a new study.
Fox said at the briefing that this signature is like a “leftover sign,” rather than life itself.
“It certainly could have been from ancient life, and that would have been something that was there billions of years ago, nothing that’s currently there,” Fox added.
However, they noted that “if any had been present on ancient Mars, they too might have reduced sulfate minerals to form sulfides in such a lake at Jezero Crater.”
Duffy said officials were looking at how to get the samples that the Perseverance Mars rover has collected back to Earth.
Unusual rock features discovered by NASA’s Perseverance Mars indicate that life may have once existed on the Red Planet, according to a recent study.
Why it matters: Speaking at a briefing on the study’s results on Wednesday, NASA’s science mission directorate associate administrator Nicky Fox stated that the discovery “is the closest we’ve actually come to discovering ancient life on Mars.” The study was published in the journal Nature.
NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy stated during the briefing that the finding “very well could be the clearest sign of life that we’ve ever found on Mars,” but officials stressed that further investigation was required.
Driving the news: According to a NASA statement on Wednesday, Perseverance came into contact with the rocks while investigating the “Bright Angel” formation, a group of rocky outcrops in the ancient river valley of Neretva Vallis “that was carved by water rushing into Jezero Crater long ago.”.
“The rover’s scientific instruments discovered that the sedimentary rocks of the formation are made of silt and clay, which are particularly good at preserving ancient microbial life on Earth. They are also high in phosphorous, sulfur, oxidized iron (rust), and organic carbon. “..”.
The study found that these mudstones are speckled with features that scientists have called “poppy seeds” and “leopard spots.”.
At the briefing, Joel Hurowitz, a perseverance scientist and the study’s lead author from Stony Brook University in New York, stated that microbes “will eat the organic matter and react it with the mud, and the byproduct of that reaction is these minerals.”. “..”.
Zoom in: “[O]ur analysis leads us to conclude that the Bright Angel formation contains textures, chemical and mineral characteristics, and organic signatures that warrant consideration as ‘potential biosignatures,'” noted the researchers in their study.
At the briefing, Fox compared this signature to a “leftover sign,” not life itself.
Reminiscent of “leftover fossils, leftovers from a meal,” Fox described the sight.
Fox went on to say, “It may have been from ancient life, and that would have been something that existed billions of years ago, nothing that’s there now.”.
The question of whether we are genuinely alone in the universe is one of humanity’s most important questions, and we’re getting closer to finding the answer.
“There is no evidence of microbes on Mars today,” wrote Mario Parente, a specialist in planet-based remote sensing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Janice Bishop, a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute in California, in an article that accompanied the report. “,”.
But they pointed out that “they might have also reduced sulfate minerals to form sulfides in such a lake at Jezero Crater if they had been present on ancient Mars.”. “..”.
Not involved in the study, Sean Carroll, a science writer and theoretical physicist, wrote on Bluesky Wednesday: “Intriguing data from the Perseverance rover on Mars, but too soon to attribute it to the existence of life.”.
“It’s acceptable that science takes time. “..”.
What we’re looking at: According to the scientists’ paper, “using high-sensitivity instrumentation on Earth will enable the measurements required to determine the origin of the minerals, organics, and textures it contains,” the core sample taken from this unit will be returned for analysis.
Concerns have been expressed by a few scientists and advocacy organizations regarding the Trump administration’s reductions in funding for NASA programs.
According to Duffy, officials were investigating ways to return the samples collected by the Perseverance Mars rover to Earth.
Duffy stated, “What we’re going to do is look at our budgets, we’re going to look at our timing, how do we spend money better, and what technology do we have to get samples back more quickly.”. Thus, that is an analysis that is currently taking place. “.
Discover more: Mars’s interior is revealed through movement.
