An unprecedented discovery by the Perseverance rover opens the door to a historic possibility
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A recent study published in the journal Nature raised alarms—and hope—within the international scientific community. For the first time, researchers analyzing data sent by NASA's Perseverance rover believe they have found chemical evidence consistent with the existence of ancient life on Mars.
The discovery took place in the rock formation known as Bright Angel, located in an ancient river valley called Neretva Vallis, within Jezero Crater, one of the most promising sites on the Red Planet. There, the rover identified structures and chemical processes that, on Earth, are directly associated with the activity of microorganisms.
This was stated by Nicola Fox, NASA's associate administrator for science, during a press conference. Although she clarified that this is not yet conclusive proof, the finding represents the most promising sign so far that Mars may have harbored primitive forms of life.
A través de distintas investigaciones se conoció que existieron pequeños microorganismos en el planeta
One of the study's authors, geologist Michael Tice (Texas A&M University), admitted that the impact of the discovery was such that he even had trouble sleeping.
"When we started to seriously consider the possibility that life could have intervened in the formation of these things, that night I had trouble sleeping," he acknowledged.
What did Perseverance find in Bright Angel?
Perseverance collected data on sedimentary rocks that formed about 3.5 billion years ago, when Mars still had liquid water on its surface. In particular, it focused on an area nicknamed Cheyava Falls, where mottled green formations, resembling "poppy seeds", were detected embedded in a reddish shale.
There, the team identified two key minerals:
Vivianite, an iron phosphate.
Greigite, an iron sulfide.
Both are common products of a type of chemical reaction called redox, in which organic material donates electrons to the iron in the mud. What is striking is that on Earth, this type of reaction is usually triggered by microbes that feed on organic matter, release energy, and leave minerals as waste.
"In sedimentary environments at room temperature, these reactions are usually driven by microbes," explained Joel Hurowitz, geologist at Stony Brook University and co-author of the study.
