‘Clearest Ever’ Signs of Life on Mars Found, NASA Announces
WASHINGTON D.C. – NASA has announced what it calls the “clearest sign of life” ever discovered on Mars, stemming from analysis of samples collected by the Perseverance rover in the Jezero crater. The findings, revealed after a year of rigorous review by the scientific community, center around unusual mineral formations resembling “leopard spots” within sedimentary rock.
The finding, detailed by NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy, suggests the spots could be the result of ancient microbes utilizing organic carbon, sulphur, and phosphorus as an energy source. “A year ago, we thought we found signs of microbial life on the Mars surface and we put it out too our scientific friends to pressure test it. Did we get this right?” Duffy stated. “After a year of review, they have come back and said: ‘Listen, we can’t find another explanation,’ so this could be the clearest sign of life that we have ever found on mars which is incredibly exciting.”
The minerals identified are vivianite and greigite. Vivianite is commonly found on Earth in sediments, peat bogs, and near decaying organic matter, while greigite is often produced by microbial life. The samples where taken from a rock formation named “Cheyava Falls” within the 45km-wide Jezero Crater, a region believed to have been habitable in the distant past.
Scientists were surprised to find thes potential biosignatures in some of the youngest sedimentary rocks the Perseverance mission has investigated, challenging previous assumptions that evidence of ancient Martian life would be limited to older formations. The discovery was made last year, with the findings now being publicly released following extensive validation. The Perseverance rover continues to explore the Jezero Crater, searching for further evidence to support these groundbreaking findings.
