- 4552 - MARS - possible life found? - Perseverance Mars rover finds possible signs of ancient Red Planet life. On Earth, these types of features in rocks are often associated with the fossilized record of microbes living in the subsurface.
---------------------------------------- 4552 - MARS - possible life found?
- NASA's Perseverance rover has discovered a
rock on Mars that may have once hosted microbial life. The rock, nicknamed
'Cheyava Falls”, has chemical compositions and structures that could have been
formed by ancient life, although non-biological processes cannot yet be ruled
out.
-
- The rover came across an intriguing,
arrowhead-shaped rock that hosts chemical signatures and structures that could
have been formed by microbial life billions of years ago, when Mars was
significantly wetter than it is today. Inside the rock Perseverance's
instruments detected organic compounds, which are precursors to the chemistry
of life as we know it. Wisping through the length of the rock are veins of
calcium sulfate, which are mineral deposits that suggest water, also essential
for life, once ran through the rock.
-
- The rover also found dozens of
millimeter-sized splotches, each surrounded by a black ring and mimicking the
appearance of leopard spots. These rings contain iron and phosphate, which are
also seen on Earth as a result of microbe-led chemical reactions.
-
- On Earth, these types of features in rocks
are often associated with the fossilized record of microbes living in the
subsurface. Cheyava Falls sits at the
edge of an ancient, 437-yard-wide river
valley named “Neretva Vallis”. Scientists suspect this ancient channel was
carved out long ago due to water gushing into Jezero Crater; Neretva Vallis
runs along the inner wall of this region.
-
- In one possible scenario, mud that already
possessed organic compounds got dumped into the valley and later cemented into
the Cheyava Falls rock, which Perseverance sampled on July 21, 2024, A second
episode of water oozing into the formed rock would have created the object's
calcium sulfate veins and black-ringed spots the team sees today.
-
- To be clear, the rock's visible features
aren’t irrefutable evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars. It is possible
that the observed calcium sulfate entered the rock at uninhabitably high
temperatures, perhaps during a nearby volcanic event. However, whether such
non-biological chemical reactions could have resulted in the observed
black-ringed spots is an open question.
-
- We have zapped that rock with lasers and
X-rays and imaged it literally day and night from just about every angle
imaginable. Scientifically,
Perseverance has nothing more to give.
To fully grasp what really unfolded in the ancient river valley billions
of years ago, scientists are keen to get the Cheyava Falls sample to Earth,
where it can be scrutinized with powerful instruments that Perseverance’s
limited suite doesn't have.
-
- The complex Mars Sample Return effort,
however, has run into many snags in recent months after its costs spiked to $11
billion. In its current form, the program requires multiple launches to Mars to
place a vehicle on the Red Planet, after which either Perseverance will travel
to the vehicle and drop off its collected samples, or pop those samples over to
a retrieval helicopter that can complete the handoff. Then, an ascender would
launch the samples into orbit, where a spacecraft would collect them and return
them to Earth.
-
-
September 9, 2024 MARS
- possible life found? 4552
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--------------------- --- Monday, September 9,
2024
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