NASA finds traces of life on Mars, the discovery in a rock

This is according to NASA scientists who were initially disappointed, in years past, not to find the traces of organic life that they expected and that a lake and river should leave behind.

The discovery of the rock in question rewards decades of research work, and the Nature article describes in much more detail the mineralogy of the rock and the surrounding terrain that scientists have named Cheyava Falls.

In addition to the leopard spots, which are formed by a dark part and a light inner part, the rock also contains tiny concretions, less than a millimetre in size, which scientists called poppy seeds, and which contain vivianite, an iron phosphate mineral.

On our planet, and here's the kicker, this mineral, and others found on Martian rock, often form in freshwater lakes, river estuaries and marshes in sediment deposits.

"These would be examples of microbe-influenced environments, where microbes consume organic matter and produce these minerals as a by-product," said Joel Hurowitz of Stony Brook University in New York, head of the group that authored the important scientific work.

Cratere Jezero a 360 gradi

In short, the strong suggestion is there but, as scientist Carl Sagan stated years ago, 'Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence', and the evidence in the rock found by Perseverance is certainly very intriguing, but not conclusive.

Perseverance, with its robotic arm, drilled into the clay and now has a sample in a container along with the 27 other soil samples taken over the years since February 2021 when it arrived on Mars.

All these samples were originally supposed to return to Earth thanks to a very daring and complex mission, Mars Sample Return, which was supposed to bring a shuttle to Mars that would take the samples from Perseverance and fire them back to Earth. The examinations and studies that can be carried out in an Earth laboratory are of another level of depth and completeness of course and could prove decisive in this case, but the mission was practically cancelled by the cuts wanted by the Trump administration, because the cost estimates soared to eleven billion dollars.

Searching for life, some form of life, outside the Earth is important because it might make us realise that we are not, for the umpteenth time, privileged, but just one of many planets, among billions and billions of others, where it has developed.