The rock, nicknamed “Cheyava Falls,” was found by the Mars Perseverance rover, and has traits that lead scientists to think it may have harbored microscopic life from billions of years ago.
A vein-filled rock on Mars has caught the attention of the science team at NASA. The rock, nicknamed “Cheyava Falls,” was found by the Mars Perseverance rover, and has traits that lead scientists to think it may have harbored microscopic life from billions of years ago.
Since landing on the Red Planet, NASA’s Perseverance rover has been on the prowl looking for any signs of past life on Mars. One find was the rover detecting specific fluorescence-mineral associations that are consistent with classes of organic molecules. Now, the rover has rolled up on an arrowhead-shaped rock which exhibits chemical signatures and structures that could have been formed by life billions of years ago. The find comes on the heels of NASA’s Curiosity rover making a shocking discovery of its own of another rock on the Red Planet.
Early analysis by instruments aboard Perseverance shows the rock possesses qualities that may be possible indicators of ancient life, according to NASA. The space agency is not ruling out other possibilities.
