NASA Finds Organic Matter On Mars: Scientists trust a portion of the late gathered rock tests taken by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover likely contains organic matter.
The four latest samples are sedimentary rocks from an old river delta in the Red Planet’s Jezero Cavity, NASA confirmed for the current week.
They mark the first-ever sedimentary rocks gathered from another planet (organic material on mars).
What NASA found on Mars: “The rocks that we have been investigating on the delta have the highest concentration of organic matter that we have yet found on the mission,” Perseverance project scientist Ken Farley told reporters.
The space organization trusts the rover’s current location to be a top possibility for tracking down indications of ancient microbial life.
“In the far off past, the sand, mud, and salts that presently make up the Wildcat Ridge sample were kept under conditions where life might actually have flourished,” Farley said in an explanation Thursday.
The four newest samples were taken from the crater’s Skinner Ridge and Wildcat Ridge, between July 7 and August 3.
Researchers will ultimately inspect tests for proof of microorganisms but will have to wait for some time to do so. The Mars Sample Return crusade campaign controlled by NASA and the European Space Office will ultimately land an automated shuttle on the planet, however it won’t get back to Earth until 2033.
The rover has retrieved 13 samples so far, with an eventual goal of collecting 38.
“To undertake the challenge and the expense of a Mars sample-return mission, we need a great suite of rocks to bring back,” Laurie Leshin, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said at a briefing Thursday.
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