After a year\u2019s worth of scientific scrutiny, the \u2018Sapphire Canyon\u2019 rock sample remains the mission\u2019s best candidate for containing signs of ancient microbial life processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A sample collected by NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life. Taken from a rock named \u201cCheyava Falls\u201d last year, the sample, called \u201cSapphire Canyon,\u201d contains potential biosignatures, according to a paper<\/a> published Wednesday in the journal Nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A potential biosignature<\/a> is a substance or structure that might have a biological origin but requires more data or further study before a conclusion can be reached about the absence or presence of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover discovered leopard spots on a reddish rock nicknamed \u201cCheyava Falls\u201d in Mars\u2019 Jezero Crater in July 2024. Scientists think the spots may indicate that, billions of years ago, the chemical reactions in this rock could have supported microbial life; other explanations are being considered. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS\u00a0Full image details<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis finding by Perseverance, launched under President Trump in his first term, is the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars. The identification of a potential biosignature on the Red Planet is a groundbreaking discovery, and one that will advance our understanding of Mars,\u201d said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. \u201cNASA\u2019s commitment to conducting Gold Standard Science will continue as we pursue our goal of putting American boots on Mars\u2019 rocky soil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perseverance came upon Cheyava Falls in July 2024<\/a> while exploring the \u201cBright Angel\u201d formation, a set of rocky outcrops on the northern and southern edges of Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley measuring a quarter-mile (400 meters) wide that was carved by water rushing into Jezero Crater long ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marked by seven benchmarks, the Confidence of Life Detection, or CoLD, scale outlines a progression in confidence that a set of observations stands as evidence of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0Credit: NASA<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis finding is the direct result of NASA\u2019s effort to strategically plan, develop, and execute a mission able to deliver exactly this type of science \u2014 the identification of a potential biosignature on Mars,\u201d said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. \u201cWith the publication of this peer-reviewed result, NASA makes this data available to the wider science community for further study to confirm or refute its biological potential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rover\u2019s science instruments found that the formation\u2019s sedimentary rocks are composed of clay and silt, which, on Earth, are excellent preservers of past microbial life. They also are rich in organic carbon, sulfur, oxidized iron (rust), and phosphorous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe combination of chemical compounds we found in the Bright Angel formation could have been a rich source of energy for microbial metabolisms,\u201d said Perseverance scientist Joel Hurowitz of Stony Brook University, New York and lead author of the paper. \u201cBut just because we saw all these compelling chemical signatures in the data didn\u2019t mean we had a potential biosignature. We needed to analyze what that data could mean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie, made up of 62 individual images, on July 23. A rock nicknamed \u201cCheyava Falls,\u201d which has features that may bear on the question of whether the Red Planet was long ago home to microscopic life, is to the left of the rover near the center of the image. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS\u00a0Full image details<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n First to collect data on this rock were Perseverance\u2019s PIXL<\/a> (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) and SHERLOC<\/a> (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) instruments. While investigating Cheyava Falls, an arrowhead-shaped rock measuring 3.2 feet by 2 feet (1 meter by 0.6 meters), they found what appeared to be colorful spots. The spots on the rock could have been left behind by microbial life if it had used the raw ingredients, the organic carbon, sulfur, and phosphorus, in the rock as an energy source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In higher-resolution images, the instruments found a distinct pattern of minerals arranged into reaction fronts (points of contact where chemical and physical reactions occur) the team called leopard spots. The spots carried the signature of two iron-rich minerals: vivianite (hydrated iron phosphate) and greigite (iron sulfide). Vivianite is frequently found on Earth in sediments, peat bogs, and around decaying organic matter. Similarly, certain forms of microbial life on Earth can produce greigite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA Says Mars Rover Discovered Potential Biosignature Last Year I dag k\u00f6r vi NASA:s spektakul\u00e4ra nyhet – med alla dess reservationer – i sin helhet, p\u00e5 engelska: Vill du ha texten p\u00e5 svenska s\u00e5 kolla med Googles \u00f6vers\u00e4ttningsmaskineri. Good luck! After a year\u2019s worth of scientific scrutiny, the \u2018Sapphire Canyon\u2019 rock sample remains the mission\u2019s… L\u00e4s mer »Nr 44 2025<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astb.se\/cassiopeiabloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98098"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astb.se\/cassiopeiabloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astb.se\/cassiopeiabloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astb.se\/cassiopeiabloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astb.se\/cassiopeiabloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98098"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.astb.se\/cassiopeiabloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98101,"href":"https:\/\/www.astb.se\/cassiopeiabloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98098\/revisions\/98101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astb.se\/cassiopeiabloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astb.se\/cassiopeiabloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astb.se\/cassiopeiabloggen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"NASA\u2019s](\"https:\/\/d2pn8kiwq2w21t.cloudfront.net\/images\/1-Cheyava_Falls_Leopard_Spots_PIA26368orig.width-1024.jpg\")
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