NASA scientists announced Wednesday that a Martian rock sample collected by the Perseverance rover shows what may be the clearest signs of ancient microbial life ever found on the Red Planet.
The findings come from Jezero Crater, an area that billions of years ago held a lake and river system.
Potential Biosignatures
“This is the kind of signature that we would see that was made by something biological,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
Fox clarified the agency is not announcing discovery of living organisms: “It’s not life itself.”
The rock sample, retrieved in July 2024, contains unusual dark “poppy seed” features and ring-shaped “leopard spots” that researchers say resemble biological activity seen on Earth.
Chemical analysis also revealed iron- and phosphorus-bearing compounds that can form when microbes break down organic material.
“This very well could be the clearest sign of life that we’ve ever found on Mars — which is incredibly exciting,” NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy said.
Joel Hurowitz, a planetary scientist at Stony Brook University and