Recent NASA Discovery May Indicate Former Life on Mars

The Perseverance Rover made an interesting discovery, finding a rock that may indicate ancient life on the 'Red Planet"

A selfie taken by Nasa's Perseverance Rover next to the arrowhead-shaped rock known as "Cheyava Falls", July 23, 2024. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The Perseverance Rover

NASA's Perseverance Rover is a robot created in 2020 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and has been on Mars since 2021. Perseverance's job is to go around Mars looking for signs of any ancient life, in order for researchers to understand more of the planet's history. NASA scientists specifically chose Jezero Crater as the Rover's landing spot, specifically for its supposed past history as an ancient lake, with much potential for microbial life forms.

Perseverance's main method of collecting information on past life on Mar's is collecting rock samples and samples of Mars's atmosphere. Out of the 38 samples Perseverance will eventually take, 25 have been collected so far. AS each sample is collected, it is assessed by scientists on earth and notes are taken that highlight the individual sample's importance. For instance, the sample Roubion (the first sample taken) has notes going over where the sample was taken, how it was taken, and the minerology and chemistry of the sample. These notes then draw conclusions about the rock and use it to influence scientist's knowledge about Mars's history. For example scientists found that the Roubion rock sample had water soluble salts in it, demonstrating "rock-water interactions" on mars and further proving the existence of water on the planet.

NASA aims for the Perseverance Rover to be interactive and the knowledge of the rover accessible, creating an interactive map so you can see where the rover has been and where it is.

Perseverance's Latest Sample

Perseverance's latest sample comes in the form of an arrowhead shaped rock nicknamed "Cheyava Falls". The rock demonstrates the possibility for organic microbial life to have lived on certain areas of Mars that were once covered by running water. Scans of the sample by Perseverance indicate that it contains organic, carbon-based compounds which could have been formed by life, although it is also possible that these compounds came from other processes.

The Rock, named after the waterfall within the Grand Canyon, contains white calcium sulfate veins and "leopard spots" that on earth, are traditionally associated with fossilized microbial life. This is not the only strange factor when it comes to this new sample, Cheyava Falls contains veins which contain olivine crystals, formed from the crystallization of magma. The presence of these crystals leads scientists to question how this rock had been created and if this crystallized olivine from magma has something to do with the presence of "leopard spots" on the rock.

The Cheyava Fall's rock sample by NASA's Perseverance Rover. Credit: NASA/JPL - Caltech/ASU/MSSS

The Perseverance's continued research into the climate and history of Mars will pave the way into future human expeditions of the planet.