{"id":61676,"date":"2025-09-15T22:24:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T22:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars"},"modified":"2025-09-15T22:50:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T22:50:37","slug":"nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars","title":{"rendered":"NASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>A sample obtained by NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover of reddish rock formed billions of years ago from sediment on the bottom of a lake contains potential signs of ancient microbial life on Mars, according to scientists, though the minerals spotted in the sample also can form through nonbiological processes.<\/p>\n

The discovery by the six-wheeled rover in Jezero Crater represents one of the best pieces of evidence to date about the possibility that Earth\u2019s planetary neighbor once harbored life.<\/p>\n

Perseverance scientist Joel Hurowitz of Stony Brook University, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature, said a \u201cpotential biosignature\u201d was detected in rock that formed at a time when Jezero Crater was believed to have been a watery environment, between 3.2 and 3.8 billion years ago.<\/p>\n

Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy told a news conference that the U.S. space agency\u2019s scientists examined the data for a year and concluded that \u201cwe can\u2019t find another explanation, so this very well could be the clearest sign of life that we\u2019ve ever found on Mars \u2013 which is incredibly exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA released an image of the rock \u2013 a very fine-grained, rusty-red mudstone \u2013 bearing ring-shaped features resembling leopard spots and dark marks resembling poppy seeds. Those features may have been produced when the rock was forming by chemical reactions involving microbes, according to the researchers.<\/p>\n

A potential biosignature is defined as a substance or structure that may have a biological origin but needs more data or further study before a conclusion can be made about the absence or presence of life.<\/p>\n

Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate, noted that the scientists were not announcing the discovery of a living organism.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not life itself,\u201d Fox told the news conference.<\/p>\n

The rover since 2021 has been exploring Jezero Crater, an area in the planet\u2019s northern hemisphere that once was flooded with water and home to an ancient lake basin. Scientists believe river channels spilled over the crater wall and created a lake.<\/p>\n

Perseverance has been analyzing rocks and loose material called regolith with its onboard instruments and then collecting samples and sealing them in tubes stored inside the rover.<\/p>\n

It collected the sample named Sapphire Canyon in July 2024 from a rock called Cheyava Falls in a locale known as Bright Angel rock formation. The sample came from a set of rocky outcrops on the edges of Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley about a quarter of a mile (400 meters) wide carved by water rushing into the crater.<\/p>\n

Telltale minerals <\/b><\/p>\n

Two minerals were detected that appear to have formed as a result of chemical reactions between the mud of the Bright Angel formation and organic matter present in that mud, Hurowitz said. They are: vivianite, a mineral bearing iron and phosphorus, and greigite, a mineral bearing iron and sulfur.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese reactions appear to have taken place shortly after the mud was deposited on the lake bottom. On Earth, reactions like these, which combine organic matter and chemical compounds in mud to form new minerals like vivianite and greigite, are often driven by the activity of microbes,\u201d Hurowitz told Reuters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe microbes are consuming the organic matter in these settings and producing these new minerals as a byproduct of their metabolism,\u201d Hurowitz said.<\/p>\n

The rover\u2019s instruments found that the rock was rich in organic carbon, sulfur, phosphorus and iron in its oxidized form, rust. This combination of chemical compounds could have offered a rich source of energy for microbial metabolisms, Hurowitz said.<\/p>\n

But Hurowitz offered some words of caution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason, however, that we cannot claim this is more than a potential biosignature is that there are chemical processes that can cause similar reactions in the absence of biology, and we cannot rule those processes out completely on the basis of rover data alone,\u201d Hurowitz said.<\/p>\n

Mars has not always been the inhospitable place it is today, with liquid water on its surface in the distant past.<\/p>\n

The sample collected and analyzed by Perseverance provides a new example of a type of potential biosignature that the research community can explore to try to understand whether or not these features were formed by life, Hurowitz said, \u201cor alternatively, whether nature has conspired to present features that mimic the activity of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can make a lot of progress on this question with laboratory experiments and fieldwork here on Earth to try to understand the various pathways that might create features like the ones we observe in the Bright Angel formation. But the ultimate tests can only be performed on the Sapphire Canyon core sample if and when it is brought back to Earth for study,\u201d Hurowitz added.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s current budget proposal would cancel NASA\u2019s existing Mars Sample Return mission. Duffy said NASA is examining various ways for potential sample retrieval or even sending equipment to Mars to do further analysis there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to look at our budgets and we\u2019re going to look at our timing, and how we spend money better and what technology do we have to get samples back more quickly,\u201d Duffy said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. A sample obtained by NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover of reddish rock formed billions of years ago from sediment on the bottom of a lake contains potential signs of ancient microbial life on Mars, according to scientists, though the minerals spotted in the sample also can form through nonbiological processes. The discovery by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":61675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-61676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nNASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A sample obtained by NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover of reddish rock formed billions of years ago from sediment on the bottom ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A sample obtained by NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover of reddish rock formed billions of years ago from sediment on the bottom ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-15T22:24:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-15T22:50:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/sm_1757960297.307741.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"510\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"NASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-15T22:24:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-15T22:50:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars\"},\"wordCount\":876,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/sm_1757960297.307741.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars\",\"name\":\"NASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars - Lesotho\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/sm_1757960297.307741.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-15T22:24:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-15T22:50:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"A sample obtained by NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover of reddish rock formed billions of years ago from sediment on the bottom ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/sm_1757960297.307741.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/sm_1757960297.307741.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":510,\"caption\":\"NASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\",\"name\":\"Lesotho\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars - Lesotho","description":"A sample obtained by NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover of reddish rock formed billions of years ago from sediment on the bottom ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars","og_description":"A sample obtained by NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover of reddish rock formed billions of years ago from sediment on the bottom ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars","og_site_name":"Lesotho","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-09-15T22:24:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-15T22:50:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":510,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/sm_1757960297.307741.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"NASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars","datePublished":"2025-09-15T22:24:58+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-15T22:50:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars"},"wordCount":876,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/sm_1757960297.307741.jpg","keywords":["Lesotho"],"articleSection":["all news","miscellaneous"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars","name":"NASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars - Lesotho","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/sm_1757960297.307741.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-15T22:24:58+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-15T22:50:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"A sample obtained by NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover of reddish rock formed billions of years ago from sediment on the bottom ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/sm_1757960297.307741.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/sm_1757960297.307741.jpg","width":720,"height":510,"caption":"NASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/nasa-rover-discovers-possible-ancient-life-signs-on-mars#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NASA Rover Discovers Possible Ancient Life Signs on Mars"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/","name":"Lesotho","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}