NASA'S PERSEVERANCE ROVER IS SEARCHING FOR SIGNS OF ANCIENT LIFE ON MARS

NASA’s Perseverance Rover is currently hunting for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars. The search is taking place in Jezero Crater, which scientists believe was full of water about 3.6 to 3.8 billion-years-ago. If microbial life existed on Mars during that time period, a watery Jezero Crater would have been an environment where that life could have thrived. Jezero Crater also hosts geological deposits, including a river delta and limestone-like minerals, that could preserve evidence of life in the crater.

The team of scientists behind Perseverance study images and chemical analyses of rocks and soils made by the rover’s scientific instruments to study the ancient environment and look for evidence that microbes once lived in Jezero Crater. That evidence could be in the form of rock textures that are similar to the rocks that microbes form on Earth, organic matter, or other chemical signatures that life can leave behind. When scientists find rocks and soils of particular interest, they use Perseverance’s robotic arm to collect small samples of the rocks and store them in tubes.

As the Perseverance team searches, NASA is planning a proposed Mars Sample Return Campaign with the European Space Agency. The Mars Sample Return Campaign could bring the samples collected by Perseverance back to Earth by 2031. This would allow scientists to study pieces of Jezero Crater in the laboratory using techniques not possible on Mars.

In this session, a member of the Perseverance science team will explain why Jezero Crater was the site chosen for this mission, describe the science that Perseverance is capable of performing, and share what it is like to be a part of the hunt for ancient life on Mars!