Rover perseverance finds a possible sign of ancient life in the Mars Rock

Today, NASA officials have unveiled new interesting results from “Sapphire Canyon”, the twenty -fifth geological sample collected by Mars Rover perseverance. These rocks have been captured by scientists since perseverance extracted in July 2024, as it may help them determine whether the microbial life is on the red planet.

Now, NASA has revealed that the initial analysis of the Sapphire Canyon sample could not exclude the biological origin of its distinctive features. “This could be very well the most signs of life we ​​found on Mars,” Sean Duffy, a NASA, said during a press conference on Wednesday, September 10.

Among the participants also Nikki Fox, co -director of the Science Mission Directorate; Lindsay Hayes, chief scientist to explore Mars; Katie Stack Morgan, the world of perseverance project; Joel Horwitz, the main author of the study published today and a planet scientist at Stone Brock University.

While the new results, which were published on Wednesday in the magazine natureI provided strong evidence indicating that Sapphire Canyon can carry a potentially vital design, “We definitely do not know that’s what it is, and we will not stop after this first analysis,” Fox explained. This will require more research to confirm whether the sample features have arisen through biological processes.

Life search in the Gizero hole

The perseverance was extracted from a vein -filled rock called “Cheyava Falls” located in NERETVA Vallis, which is the valley of a river cut to the surface of Mars by water that rushes to the Jezero hole for billions of years. Rover has been explored this upcoming rise at the level of 28 miles (45 km) since February 2021, and has collected 30 samples of rocks and man for a Possible return to Earth.

NASA scientists believe that the old lake Delta in Jezero Crate is the best place to persevere to find signs of previous microbial life, and Sapphire Canyon has acquired her attention as soon as she collected Rover. This sample is characterized by small black spots called NASA scientists “poppy seeds” that are punctuated by the largest “leopard” sites.

“These text features told us that there is a really interesting thing that has occurred in these rocks, as some chemical reaction occurred at a time when they were deposited,” Horwitz explained during the briefing. The stains could have been left behind microbial life if they had used organic compounds – carbon, sulfur and phosphorous – as an energy source.

Search for chemical evidence

To search for these vehicles, Horwitz and his colleagues analyzed the collected data using the Sherlock tool (wiping home-based environments with Raman and Lads of membership and chemicals), which revealed what is known as G-band. Horowitz described it as a “smoking rifle index” for the presence of organic matter.

Then use the Pixl Picking team (planetary tool for the stone chemistry of X -ray) to draw a surface chemistry map in Cheyava waterfalls. This revealed a distinct pattern of minerals arranged on the fronts of reaction – the contact points where chemical and physical reactions – which are compatible with the leopard stains occur. The stains carried the signature of two iron -rich minerals: Vivianite and Greigite.

“When we see such advantages in the sediments on the ground, these minerals are often a secondary product of microbial metabolism that consumes organic materials and making these minerals as a result of these reactions,” explained Horowitz. He added: “But there are non -biological ways to make these features that we cannot completely exclude on the basis of the data we collected with the Rovrena payload.”

The next step: I return to the sapphire to Earth

Horowitz said that to confirm the biological origin of the sapphire locations, we need to return the sample to the ground. NASA and the European Space Agency are developing a multi -fee campaign to restore perseverance, but the escalating costs and complexity hindered progress.

The funding task of the return of the Mars sample was not included in the proposal of President Trump’s financial budget 2026. However, in July, the Sub -Committee for Trade Sciences in the House of Representatives allocated $ 300 million to continue MSR at FY2026. Although the draft law has not yet passed, it is that it will encourage the possibility of the vital prosecution affirming the legislators to maintain the financing of the task.