2024-08-20 11:16:36
MADRID, 20 years ago. (EUROPE PRESS) –
Seven rock samples collected in front of the ‘wind’ of Mars’ Jezero Crater by NASA’s Perseverance rover They have minerals that are normal in water.
The findings, now published AGU Advances magazinesuggest that the rocks were originally created by water, or may have formed in the presence of water.
The seven samples were collected by NASA’s Perseverance rover in 2022 during its investigation of the western edge of the crater, where some rocks are thought to have formed in what was once an ancient dry lake.
The rover collects each sample by drilling into the Martian bedrock and extracting a pencil-sized core, which is then sealed in a tube until one day it is returned and returned to Earth for analysis.
Members of the Perseverance science team have studied the rover’s images and chemical analyzes of the samples, and have confirmed that the rocks do indeed contain traces of water, and it is possible that the hole is a watery and habitable area.
It is still unknown whether the crater was actually inhabited. The team found that the presence of organic material (the starting material for life) could not be confirmed, at least based on the rover’s measurements. But judging by the mineral content of the rocks, scientists believe that the samples are the best place to look for signs of ancient Martian life once the rocks are returned to Earth for more information. .
“These rocks confirm the presence, at least temporarily, of habitable areas on Mars,” do in a word Study lead author Tanja Bosak, professor of geology in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) at MIT. “What we have discovered is that there are, in fact, many underwater activities. For how long, we do not know, but certainly for long enough to create these large sedimentary deposits.”
What’s more, some of the collected samples may have been originally deposited in an ancient lake more than 3.5 billion years ago, even before the first signs of life on Earth.
“These are the oldest rocks that could be water, that an explorer’s hand or arm has been placed on,” said co-author Benjamin Weiss, the Robert R. Shrock Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at MIT. . “It’s fun, because means that these are promising rocks that may have preserved fossils and signs of life“.
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