NASA’s Perseverance Rover has been on Mars for 10 months and the scientific results it sends are increasing day by day. But the most exciting of these results, presented at the fall science meeting of the American Geophysical Union in New Orleans, may be the discovery of organic molecules in Jezero Crater.
Organic matter has been observed on Mars before, so the news isn’t revolutionary, but the fact that they continue to be found at locations far apart from each other suggests that finding such molecules may be common across the planet.
The discovery of organic compounds was carried out with the SHERLOC (Raman & Luminescence Scanning Habitable Environments for Organics and Chemicals) instrument. SHERLOC found organics in rocks and on their dusty surfaces, another indication that organic molecules are common.
“Curiosity also discovered organic material at the landing site inside Gale Crater,” said Luther Beegle, SHERLOC principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement. ”
Organics on earth are predominantly the product of the processes of living organisms. But many chemical reactions that do not require life can produce organic molecules. So finding them doesn’t mean finding evidence that life once existed (or perhaps still exists) on Mars. To further investigate this issue, Perseverance collected samples to be launched from Mars to Earth.
As Beegle explains, “This is an unsolved question until samples return to Earth, but the preservation of organics is very exciting. When these samples are returned to Earth, they will be a source of scientific research and discovery for many years to come.”
The diligent reconnaissance vehicle also maps what is under the crater, thanks to the radar it uses. This mapping showed that some of the rock formations the rover explored extend deep into the ground. In addition, these rocks continued under the soil at the angle seen on the surface. Another exciting result of the presentation, which focused on the nature of the bedrock, was that a particularly interesting rock was found to consist of an unusual abundance of large olivine crystals encapsulated in pyroxene crystals.
“A good geology student will tell you that a texture like this shows rock that forms when crystals settle in a slowly cooling magma—for example, a thick lava flow, lava lake, or magma chamber,” Farley said. has been changed, making it a treasure trove that will allow future scientists to date events on Jezero, better understand the period when water was more common on the surface of the water, and reveal the early history of the planet. On the return of the Martian samples, there will be great things to choose from!”
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