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The rock, studied by NASA’s Perseverance rover, has been extensively analyzed by scientists on Earth who say non-microbial processes can also affect its characteristics.
By Kenneth Chang
Kenneth Chang reported on the Perseverance project before its launch, along with other clues about imaginable life on Mars.
Scientists working with NASA’s Perseverance rover are emphatic that they do not claim to have discovered life on Mars.
But many would say that the rover has just finished reading as “most likely fossilized Martian microbes. “The rover drilled into and hid a chunk of rock, which scientists hope to be able to bring back to Earth in the coming years for more information. research and more definitive answers.
“What we’re saying is that we have a possible biosignature on Mars,” said Kathryn Stack Morgan, deputy mission scientist. She describes a biosignature as a structure, composition or texture in a rock that may simply have a biological origin.
The rock, which scientists have named Cheyava Falls, has features reminiscent of those that microbes might have left behind when this domain was warm and humid billions of years ago, a component of an ancient river delta. The scientists said they hadn’t detected anything that could simply be genuine fossilized organisms.
Scientists wondered if life might have given that impression in the early days of Mars, when it had a dense environment and running water. Martian rocks may contain vital clues.
The Cheyava Falls discovery “is, at least to me, the most desirable rock we’ve collected so far,” said Kenneth Farley, assigned scientist and professor of geochemistry at the California Institute of Technology. Studying Earth, he added, “could answer the question” of whether life ever existed on Mars.
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