NASA's Perseverance Rover Reaches 'Closest To Discovering Life On Mars'—Here's What US Space Agency Found

NASA scientists say their Mars rover Perseverance has uncovered the most compelling signs so far that life may once have existed on the Red Planet.

At a 10 September briefing, the agency announced that instruments aboard Perseverance had identified “potential biosignatures” in a rock sample it scanned last year. “This finding by Perseverance... is the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars,” acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said, calling it a milestone for Mars research.

The rover, exploring Jezero Crater since February 2021, examined an arrowhead-shaped rock later named Cheyava Falls. Data showed it was made of clay and silt and contained organic carbon, sulphur, oxidised iron and phosphorus, materials that, on Earth, can preserve traces of microbial activity.

Published in Nature, the study stresses that the evidence remains preliminary. NASA noted that the same mineral and chemical patterns could arise without life, through purely geological processes. “The minerals also can be generated abiotically,” the agency said, underscoring the need for further testing.

Perseverance drilled a small core from Cheyava Falls, one of about 30 samples it has cached for a future mission to return them to Earth.

Scientists hope advanced laboratory analysis will reveal whether the features truly indicate ancient microbial life or result from non-biological chemistry.

The discovery has renewed excitement about Mars exploration but does not settle the debate over extraterrestrial life.

NASA’s sample-return mission, essential to confirm the findings, faces funding challenges but remains a top priority for planetary science.

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