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3w ago

Perseverance Detects Potential Biosignature in Jezero Crater Rock

Definitive confirmation hinges on returning the sealed core to Earth, a step complicated by uncertainty over NASA’s sample‑return plan.

A “selfie” taken by the Perseverance Mars rover as it examines Cheyava Falls, an arrowhead-shaped rock in the center that contains potential biosignatures of past Martian life.
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Overview

  • A peer‑reviewed Nature paper and a NASA briefing on September 10 describe a "potential biosignature" in Perseverance’s Sapphire Canyon core.
  • Minerals vivianite and greigite appear alongside organic compounds in leopard‑spotted textures, based on SHERLOC and PIXL measurements.
  • Researchers caution that non‑biological processes could produce similar features and say rover data cannot resolve the origin.
  • Perseverance drilled the core in July 2024 from the Cheyava Falls rock in the Bright Angel formation at Neretva Vallis within Jezero Crater.
  • NASA says confirmation requires Earth labs, yet a White House proposal to cancel Mars Sample Return has put retrieval plans under review.