NASA’s Perseverance rover has detected a possible biosignature in a rock sample taken from Jezero Crater, raising fresh questions about whether Mars once supported microbial life.
The finding, published in the journal Nature, comes from a sample named “Sapphire Canyon” collected in 2024 from a site known as Cheyava Falls. The rock lies in the Bright Angel formation, an ancient river deposit inside Neretva Vallis, a channel that once fed water into the crater.
What was found
- Instruments on Perseverance identified clay and silt in the rock. On Earth, these minerals preserve signs of ancient microbial life.
- The sample also contained organic carbon, sulfur, oxidized iron, and phosphorus. These elements are known energy sources for microbes.
- High-resolution scans showed “leopard spots,” patterns of iron-rich minerals. The two key minerals were vivianite, often linked to decaying organic matter on Earth, and greigite, sometimes produced by microbes.
Why it matters
The mix of compounds and mineral reactions suggests a potential fingerprint of microbial metabolism. While the same features might form without life, the local rocks show no evidence of the high heat or strong acids usually needed for non-biological reactions.
The findings came from some of the youngest sedimentary rocks studied on Mars. Earlier theories suggested any traces of life would be locked in older rocks. The discovery implies Mars could have stayed habitable for longer than once thought.
NASA’s position
Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy called the result “the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars.” Nicky Fox, NASA’s associate administrator for science, said the agency’s strategy of carefully targeted missions had paid off with data that the global science community can now assess.
Katie Stack Morgan, the rover’s project scientist, stressed caution. “Astrobiological claims require extraordinary evidence,” she said. “Abiotic explanations are less likely here, but they cannot be ruled out.”
Broader mission
Since landing in 2021, Perseverance has drilled and stored 27 rock cores. These samples, including Sapphire Canyon, may one day return to Earth for detailed study. The rover also carries a weather station and test materials for future human exploration.
The mission is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech under the agency’s Mars Exploration Program.
