NASA’s Perseverance rover may be on the verge of one of the most significant discoveries in history: It has found possible signs of life at the bottom of an ancient Martian lake. But to get definitive answers, scientists need to get those samples back to Earth.
On September 10, NASA scientists announced that Perseverance had examined a rock formation called Cheyava Falls and found the minerals vivianite and greigite. These chemical “fingerprints” are usually formed by the interaction of sediments with organic matter. It is precisely such reactions that microorganisms could use to grow and survive.
