NASA'S PERSEVERANCE ROVER DETECTS POTENTIAL SIGNS OF LIFE IN MARTIAN ROCK SAMPLE

NASA’s Perseverance rover has delivered one of its most tantalizing discoveries yet: a rock sample from Mars’ Jezero Crater that contains organic molecules and chemical patterns consistent with potential signs of ancient microbial life.

- 

While not definitive proof, the findings represent a major milestone in the search for extraterrestrial biology and intensify anticipation for the mission's eventual sample return to Earth.

THE ROCK SAMPLE THAT COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING

The discovery comes from a layered rock formation Perseverance drilled earlier this year, part of an ancient delta where a river once flowed into Jezero Crater. Scientists have long considered the site one of the best candidates on Mars for preserving evidence of life because sediments can trap and protect organic material.

Preliminary analysis using Perseverance's SHERLOC instrument (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) detected complex carbon-based molecules embedded in the rock. While organic molecules can form without biology, the distribution patterns and context suggest they may have biological origins.

“This is exactly the kind of sample we hoped Perseverance would find," said Dr. Ken Farley, a project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “It doesn't prove life was here, but it raises the strongest case yet that Jezero preserved conditions that could have supported it.”

HOW THE DETECTION WAS MADE