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USA Today
01-04-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Mars rovers make seperate finds pointing to past life: What Perseverance, Curiosity found
Mars rovers make seperate finds pointing to past life: What Perseverance, Curiosity found Perseverance and Curiosity rovers, both about the size of a car, have spent years scouring different regions of Mars to find evidence that the now-barren planet may once have been habitable. Show Caption Hide Caption Mars rover: 'Perseverance' looks back at tracks While climbing Mar's Jezero Crater, NASA's rover snapped images of the tracks it left after some wheel slippage along the way. Two NASA rovers on Mars recently made two independent discoveries further indicating that ancient life may have once existed on the Red Planet. The U.S. space agency's Perseverance and Curiosity rovers, both about the size of a car, have spent years scouring different regions of Mars to find evidence that the now-barren planet may once have been habitable. Scientists believe the geology of Mars may hold valuable clues about past ancient life, and so the robotic vehicles, controlled remotely from Earth, have slowly navigated the rocky terrain to scoop up and collect intriguing samples. The latest finds both came last month. Perseverance, which is still early into its journey exploring the top of the crater where it landed four years ago, came across a strange rock comprised of hundreds of millimeter-sized spheres. NASA scientists are now working hard to understand their origin. As for Curiosity, which is exploring a region about 2,300 miles away, the rover recently discovered the largest organic molecules on Mars to date. Here's more on each rover's find, as well as what's next for the Mars missions and NASA's plans to get the samples back to Earth. Mars: A rover has been collecting rocks from Mars for years. How will they get back to Earth? Perseverance finds rock covered in spheres The Perseverance recently spotted a rock with a strange texture as it rolled along the rim of the Jezero Crater north of the Martian equator. The rock, named 'St. Pauls Bay' by the Perseverance mission team, appeared to be comprised of hundreds of tiny, dark-gray spheres. Some of these appeared in more elongated shapes, while others had more angular edges and a few even had tiny pinholes. The finding was first made March 11, with NASA releasing a composite image 10 days later that the rover captured with its SuperCam Remote Micro Imager. Martian rovers have previously spotted strange spheres before, including Curiosity and the now-defunct Opportunity. Just a few months ago, Perseverance itself even spied popcorn-like textures in sedimentary rocks in the Jezero crater. In those cases, scientists determined the spheres were likely formed from interactions with groundwater circulating through the rocks' pores. What makes St. Pauls Bay different, however, was that it was determined to be out of place. Initial observations have allowed scientists to conclude that it could be tied to a dark-toned rocky layer that the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted from above. "Placing these features in geologic context will be critical for understanding their origin, and determining their significance for the geological history of the Jezero crater rim and beyond," NASA said in a news release. Curiosity takes closer look at Cumberland rock The Curiosity rover recently took a fresh look at a previously-collected sample that its mission team named "Cumberland" to make a new discovery. By remotely analyzing the pulverized rock within the rover's belly, scientists found the largest organic compounds on the Red Planet to date. The finding, published March 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is thought to be the fragments of fatty acids that were preserved in the sample. Fatty acids are among the organic molecules that on Earth are chemical building blocks of life, NASA said in a news release. Fatty acids also can be made without life, through chemical reactions triggered by certain geological processes. Regardless of the origin, the find is still a thrilling one Curiosity's team. "Curiosity scientists had previously discovered small, simple organic molecules on Mars, but finding these larger compounds provides the first evidence that organic chemistry advanced toward the kind of complexity required for an origin of life on Mars," NASA said in a statement. What are the Martian rovers? In July 2020, the Perseverance rover underwent a 200-day, 300-million-mile journey to reach Mars. After landing in February 2021 in the Jezero Crater, the robot, controlled remotely from Earth, spent nearly four years searching for and collecting more than two dozen rock samples – many of which are stored at the first-ever depot on another planet for future retrieval. The bottom of the Jezero Crater – believed to have formed 3.9 billion years ago from a massive impact – is considered to be among the most promising areas on Mars to search for evidence of ancient life. But after years in the trenches of Jezero, Perseverance in December finally summitted the steep Martian crater to begin the next leg of its journey exploring the crater's rim. Curiosity, meanwhile, has been on the planet much longer. The rover landed in August 2012 in an area known as the Gale Crater, believed to have formed 3.7 billion years ago, and has since collected 42 powderized rock samples with the drill on the end of its robotic arm. The Cumberland sample was drilled in May 2013 from a shallow depression in the Gale Crater called 'Yellowknife Bay.' Scientists were so intrigued by Yellowknife Bay, which looked like an ancient lakebed, they sent the rover there before heading in the opposite direction to its primary destination of Mount Sharp, which rises from the floor of the crater. The detour turned out to be worth it, as NASA says the rock was found to be rich with clues about the Gale Crater's geological history. Cumberland is filled with clay minerals, which form in water, as well as organic molecule-preserving sulfur and other molecules crucial to biological proccesses, according to NASA. While both Perseverance and Curiosity's adventures have revealed some insights about the enigmatic Martian geology, that's nothing compared to what studying the samples up close with state-of-the-art equipment could unveil. NASA has been working on plans to bring samples from Mars to Earth in the coming years to analyze them further. 'We are ready to take the next big step and bring Mars samples home to our labs to settle the debate about life on Mars,' said Daniel Glavin, senior scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement. Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mars rovers make seperate finds pointing to past life: What Perseverance, Curiosity found
Two NASA rovers on Mars recently made two independent discoveries further indicating that ancient life may have once existed on the Red Planet. The U.S. space agency's Perseverance and Curiosity rovers, both about the size of a car, have spent years scouring different regions of Mars to find evidence that the now-barren planet may once have been habitable. Scientists believe the geology of Mars may hold valuable clues about past ancient life, and so the robotic vehicles, controlled remotely from Earth, have slowly navigated the rocky terrain to scoop up and collect intriguing samples. The latest finds both came last month. Perseverance, which is still early into its journey exploring the top of the crater where it landed four years ago, came across a strange rock comprised of hundreds of millimeter-sized spheres. NASA scientists are now working hard to understand their origin. As for Curiosity, which is exploring a region about 2,300 miles away, the rover recently discovered the largest organic molecules on Mars to date. Here's more on each rover's find, as well as what's next for the Mars missions and NASA's plans to get the samples back to Earth. Mars: A rover has been collecting rocks from Mars for years. How will they get back to Earth? The Perseverance recently spotted a rock with a strange texture as it rolled along the rim of the Jezero Crater north of the Martian equator. The rock, named 'St. Pauls Bay' by the Perseverance mission team, appeared to be comprised of hundreds of tiny, dark-gray spheres. Some of these appeared in more elongated shapes, while others had more angular edges and a few even had tiny pinholes. The finding was first made March 11, with NASA releasing a composite image 10 days later that the rover captured with its SuperCam Remote Micro Imager. Martian rovers have previously spotted strange spheres before, including Curiosity and the now-defunct Opportunity. Just a few months ago, Perseverance itself even spied popcorn-like textures in sedimentary rocks in the Jezero crater. In those cases, scientists determined the spheres were likely formed from interactions with groundwater circulating through the rocks' pores. What makes St. Pauls Bay different, however, was that it was determined to be out of place. Initial observations have allowed scientists to conclude that it could be tied to a dark-toned rocky layer that the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted from above. "Placing these features in geologic context will be critical for understanding their origin, and determining their significance for the geological history of the Jezero crater rim and beyond," NASA said in a news release. The Curiosity rover recently took a fresh look at a previously-collected sample that its mission team named "Cumberland" to make a new discovery. By remotely analyzing the pulverized rock within the rover's belly, scientists found the largest organic compounds on the Red Planet to date. The finding, published March 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is thought to be the fragments of fatty acids that were preserved in the sample. Fatty acids are among the organic molecules that on Earth are chemical building blocks of life, NASA said in a news release. Fatty acids also can be made without life, through chemical reactions triggered by certain geological processes. Regardless of the origin, the find is still a thrilling one Curiosity's team. "Curiosity scientists had previously discovered small, simple organic molecules on Mars, but finding these larger compounds provides the first evidence that organic chemistry advanced toward the kind of complexity required for an origin of life on Mars," NASA said in a statement. In July 2020, the Perseverance rover underwent a 200-day, 300-million-mile journey to reach Mars. After landing in February 2021 in the Jezero Crater, the robot, controlled remotely from Earth, spent nearly four years searching for and collecting more than two dozen rock samples – many of which are stored at the first-ever depot on another planet for future retrieval. The bottom of the Jezero Crater – believed to have formed 3.9 billion years ago from a massive impact – is considered to be among the most promising areas on Mars to search for evidence of ancient life. But after years in the trenches of Jezero, Perseverance in December finally summitted the steep Martian crater to begin the next leg of its journey exploring the crater's rim. Curiosity, meanwhile, has been on the planet much longer. The rover landed in August 2012 in an area known as the Gale Crater, believed to have formed 3.7 billion years ago, and has since collected 42 powderized rock samples with the drill on the end of its robotic arm. The Cumberland sample was drilled in May 2013 from a shallow depression in the Gale Crater called 'Yellowknife Bay.' Scientists were so intrigued by Yellowknife Bay, which looked like an ancient lakebed, they sent the rover there before heading in the opposite direction to its primary destination of Mount Sharp, which rises from the floor of the crater. The detour turned out to be worth it, as NASA says the rock was found to be rich with clues about the Gale Crater's geological history. Cumberland is filled with clay minerals, which form in water, as well as organic molecule-preserving sulfur and other molecules crucial to biological proccesses, according to NASA. While both Perseverance and Curiosity's adventures have revealed some insights about the enigmatic Martian geology, that's nothing compared to what studying the samples up close with state-of-the-art equipment could unveil. NASA has been working on plans to bring samples from Mars to Earth in the coming years to analyze them further. 'We are ready to take the next big step and bring Mars samples home to our labs to settle the debate about life on Mars,' said Daniel Glavin, senior scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement. Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mars rovers make seperate finds: Did the Red planet host life?
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Puzzled When Mars Rover Finds Egg-Like Rock
Who said there's an egg crisis? NASA's Perseverance Rover has stumbled across an extremely strange rock that's "astonished" scientists while exploring the rim of the Jezero crater on Mars. Nicknamed "St. Pauls Bay," the rock is made up of hundreds of densely packed, millimeter-sized dark spheres — not unlike an insect's slimy egg cluster. These "spherules," as they're known, are somewhat heterogeneous. As seen in a closeup taken with Perseverance's SuperCam Remote Micro Imager, some of them appear more elliptical while others are more angular. Stranger still, some spherules have tiny pinholes through their centers. In short, they're nothing like the rocks that make up the surrounding landscape, which are lighter and flatter. NASA scientists have encountered puzzling spherules in the past. As far back as 2004, the Mars Opportunity rover, during its expedition in the Meridiani Planum, spotted what's come to be known as "Martian Blueberries" — loose, smoothly surfaced pebbles, each roughly an inch across. And last year, Perseverance found light-colored sedimentary rocks with an uneven "popcorn-like" texture. In keeping with the appetizing analogues, these latest instances of spherules, found on a slope of the Jezero's crater's western rim called Witch Hazel Hill, are more like geological Dippin' Dots. Whereas previous spherules were thought to be concretions — the result of groundwater flowing through sediment and depositing minerals that clump around small nuclei of rocks, forming a larger ovoid over time — it's not clear what formed St. Pauls Bay. Some spherules form when droplets of molten rock spewed in a volcanic eruption rapidly cool. Mars, home to the largest volcano in the solar system, has a long history of volcanism, so this could be the case. But spherules can also form by rocks that are vaporized in a meteorite strike, which condense into an ovoid in the aftermath; Mars is routinely bombarded by space rocks. Right now, it's impossible to determine St. Pauls Bay's origins because it's a float rock, a type of loose rock that's not part of the surrounding bedrock and originated from somewhere else. The search, however, is far from over. "The team are now working to link the spherule-rich texture observed at St. Pauls Bay to the wider stratigraphy at Witch Hazel Hill, and initial observations have provided tantalizing indications that it could be linked to one of the dark-toned layers identified by the team from orbit," Alex Jones, a Mars researcher at Imperial College London, wrote in a NASA blog. "Placing these features in geologic context will be critical for understanding their origin, and determining their significance for the geological history of the Jezero crater rim and beyond!" More on Mars: Readings Show Evidence of Huge Ocean Under Mars' Surface
Forbes
24-03-2025
- Science
- Forbes
NASA Mars Rover Spots ‘Shocking Spherules' In Strange Rock
It takes a lot to astonish a Mars rover team that has seen everything from an ancient beach to a rock that might hint at long-ago life. NASA's Perseverance rover found an unusual rock on the rim of the Jezero crater. The odd, bubbly-looking formation stood out from its surroundings. 'Last week the Perseverance Science Team were astonished by a strange rock comprised of hundreds of millimeter-sized spheres,' said Alex Jones, a doctoral researcher at Imperial College London, in a rover update on March 21. Perseverance has been poking around a spot named Broom Point at the lower slopes of an area called Witch Hazel Hill. The rover originally landed in the Jezero crater in early 2021. It completed an epic climb up the crater rim last year and is exploring a new part of Mars. This is where the rock with 'shocking spherules' was found. The team named the rock St. Pauls Bay. Images of the rock show some peculiar shapes among the spherules. Some are angular. Some are elliptical. Others have small pin-sized holes. 'What quirk of geology could produce these strange shapes?' Jones asked. Perseverance looked at the rock from afar, but also got a close view using its SuperCam Remote Micro Imager instrument on March 11. The detailed view highlights the variety of spherule shapes. Jones shared a couple of ways that a rock like this might form. The spherules could be concretions created through a process where water interacts with pores in a rock. That's not the only possible explanation for the spherules. 'They also form on Earth by rapid cooling of molten rock droplets formed in a volcanic eruption, for instance, or by the condensation of rock vaporized by a meteorite impact,' Jones said. The science team is working on teasing out the rock's origin. What's obvious is that it's not in its original place. Orbital images of the Witch Hazel Hill area show bands of light and dark rock. The St. Pauls Bay rock may be associated with one of the darker bands, but more study is needed. Perseverance's continued explorations might turn up similar rocks. 'Placing these features in geologic context will be critical for understanding their origin, and determining their significance for the geological history of the Jezero crater rim and beyond,' Jones said. Mars has a history of revealing surprising geologic finds to NASA's rovers. The Opportunity rover famously spotted a group of spherical formations in 2004. These round rocks became known as Martian 'blueberries.' More recently, the Curiosity rover drove over and broke apart a rock to reveal yellow sulfur crystals in mid-2024. Perseverance and Curiosity are NASA's currently operating rovers on the red planet. They have a lot on their science plates, but one of their main goals is investigating whether or not Mars might have once been home to microbial life long ago. It's a tough question to answer from a distance, so Perseverance is also collecting rock samples in the hope we'll be able to return them to Earth one day for closer study. St. Pauls Bay will remain a bit of a mystery for now. Add it to the list of weird and wonderful Mars rover finds that will keep scientists busy for years.
