'Tantalizing' Mars rock samples collected by Perseverance rover
NASA's Perseverance rover has collected several "tantalizing" rock samples from an ancient river delta on Mars.
NASA's Perseverance rover has collected several "tantalizing" rock samples from an ancient river delta on Mars, setting the stage for an elaborate future mission that aims to retrieve the specimens and bring them back to Earth.
Agency officials said Thursday that four "scientifically compelling" rock samples were gathered from within Jezero Crater, an area on Mars where a river and lake once converged billions of years ago, making it a prime spot to search for signs of ancient microbial life.
Scientists won't be able to study the specimens up close until they are brought to Earth, likely sometime in the 2030s, but NASA said some of the rocks contain the highest concentrations of organic material yet detected by the Perseverance rover.
"I personally find these results so moving because it feels like we're in the right place with the right tools at a very pivotal moment," Sunanda Sharma, a mission scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said Thursday in a news briefing.
The presence of organic molecules — typically made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen — does not necessarily mean there was once life on the Red Planet, but organics are considered to be key ingredients for life.
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