NASA says it’s now closer than ever to “discovering life on Mars” thanks to a key sample obtained by its Perseverance rover.
On Wednesday (Sept. 10), the agency detailed its hopes for the sample, which it says was taken from an ancient dry riverbed in the planet’s Jezero Crater. The sample, per NASA, may provide evidence of “ancient microbial life” once fully analyzed.
Below, we take a look at what’s known, and what remains a mystery, about the sample dubbed “Sapphire Canyon.”
NASA’s Mars rover collects sample that may point to life on the Red Planet
NASA said the sample, which follows the Perseverance rover’s first encounter with the Cheyaya Falls rock in Jezero Crater in July 2024, could boast possible biosignatures. This possibility is the subject of a peer-reviewed paper published in the Nature journal this week, with Sean Duffy, acting NASA Administrator, calling this “the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars” in an agency news release.
NASA defines a potential biosignature as “a substance or structure that might have a biological origin,” though additional data is required to make a definitive conclusion one way or the other.
What is NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover?
The rover launched in July 2020 and is tasked with collecting samples of rock and related matter. In February 2021, the rover landed on the Red Planet, where it remains.
Perseverance isn’t the first Mars-traversing vehicle of its kind for NASA, having been preceded on its mission by previous landings from Curiosity and other rovers.
The planet has long been a source of fascination for academics and hopeful space tourists alike. John Wick and Good Fortune star Keanu Reeves, for example, recently told Entertainment Tonight that going to Mars was on his bucket list, though he was quick to offer “maybe just going to space” as a more attainable aim.