New analysis from Imperial College London (ICL, University of London – UK) based on a rock found by Perseverance at the bottom of Mars’ giant Jezero Crater has revealed a simultaneous interaction between the rocks. and liquid water, as well as organic compounds.
Jezero Crater has long been thought to be a realm of ancient alien life. Earlier evidence based on NASA remote sensing data suggested that this massive impact crater may have once contained an entire river delta. Perseverance’s mission is to find evidence that corroborates that.
A photo of the Martian world taken during the exploration of Jezero Crater – Photo: Perseverance/NASA/ASU
Perhaps it had one more success. According to Professor Mark Sephton from ICL’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering, a member of the Perseverance research team, said the bottom of the Jezero Crater is where the rover landed for safety reasons before moving to the plains. plain.
In this lake bed, the scientists had only intended to find and sample some sediments, but were surprised to find cooled magma there, with minerals recording significant contact with the water. through a state-of-the-art scanning device called SHERLOC, mounted on the arm of the self-driving robot Perseverance.
These minerals, such as carbonates and salts, need water to be able to circulate in volcanic rocks, creating cavities and depositing dissolved minerals in pores and cracks.
And just like similar hollow rocks in Earth’s oceans – where tiny creatures take refuge – these cavities also contain remnants of organic matter.
This leads to the possibility that this is evidence of ancient Martian creatures, once swimming in the water, which scientists will need time to examine further.
The work, funded by NASA, the European Research Council, the Swedish National Space Agency and the British Space Agency, has just been published in the journal Science.