In the midst of its second scientific campaign on Mars, the Rover Perseverance He has detected organic material in new soil samples taken from Jezero Crater that are being investigated for primitive microbes, NASA scientists announced in a statement.
“We found sandstone that carries grains and rock fragments created far from Jezero Crater, and a shale that includes intriguing organic compounds,” said the project scientist. Ken Farley.
???? Now | In the midst of its second scientific campaign on Mars, the Rover Perseverance (@NASAPersevere) from NASA has detected organic matter in new soil samples taken from Jezero Crater ???? .
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“The fact that organic matter has been found in such a sedimentary rock, known to preserve fossils of ancient life here on Earth, is important,” they noted from the US agency.
Wildcat Ridge is the name given to a rock about 1 meter wide that was formed billions of years ago when mud and fine sand settled in an evaporating saltwater lake.
On July 20, the rover eroded part of the surface of Wildcat Ridge so that it could analyze the area with the instrument called Analysis of habitable environments with Raman and luminescence for organic and chemical products (SHERLOCfor its acronym in English) and the survey of the tool indicated that the samples present a class of organic molecules which are spatially correlated with those of sulfate minerals.
Crater Lake. NASA.
Sulfate minerals found in sedimentary rock layers can provide important information about aqueous environments in which they were formed. “In the distant past, the sand, mud and salts that now make up the Wildcat Ridge sample were deposited under conditions in which life could have prosperedFarley added.
Wildcat Ridge. NASA.
Perseverance has detected organic elements in Jezero Crater before. But unlike that earlier discovery, this latest detection was made in an area where, in the distant past, sediments and salts were deposited in a lake under conditions in which life could have existed.
45 kilometers wide Lake hosts a delta, that is, an ancient fan-shaped feature that formed a few years ago 3.5 billion years at the convergence of a Martian river and a lake. Perseverance is investigating sedimentary rocks and since July 7, the Rover has collected four samples from an ancient river delta.
“Despite the capacity of our instruments on board Perseverance, we will have to wait until the Wildcat Ridge sample is brought to Earth to study it in depth and draw more conclusions about its content,” the expert pointed out.
Photo taken after Perceverence collected two core samples from Wildcat Ridge. He eroded the top right to inspect the rock with his SHERLOC instrument..
One of the main goals of Perseverance’s Mars mission is astrobiology, which includes collecting stored samples that may contain signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s past geology and climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and store Martian rocks and regolith.