NASA Rover detects evidence of ancient life on Mars

The Perseverance rover NASA continues to launch the most significant evidence of life on the planet Mars as existing in ancient times and the potential of having microbial life. In 2024, a rock sample examined by the rover in the Jezero Crater of Mars was named "Cheyava Falls" and included chemical and structural structures that are similar to patterns formed by microbial life on Earth.

Key Findings

• The rock has clay, silt, organic carbon, sulfur, oxidized iron, and phosphorous-substances that are known to preserve the biosignatures on Earth.
• Its chemical structure implies that it can undergo electron-transfer reactions, something microbes utilize to get energy.
• These characteristics render Cheyava Falls to be a possible biosignature but not the definite evidence of life.

What Are Biosignatures?

• Biosignatures refer to materials or features, which can evidence a biological activity in the past or the present.
• They also may be non-biological, and in order to eliminate the possibility of abiotic origin, careful analysis is needed.

Scientific Caution

• NASA emphasizes that such discoveries are not the conclusive evidence of the life.
• The instruments of perseverance give preliminary information, but cannot test biological activity on its own.
• The rover has already gathered above 30 samples to be studied in-depth on earth in the future.

Sample Return Mission Next Steps.

• NASA will bring samples of Mars back to the Earth to conduct sophisticated laboratory studies.

• The retrieval mission could be postponed due to the technical and budgetary problems.
• Provided successful, these samples may provide a breakthrough in our knowledge about life outside our planet.