NASA's Perseverance Rover Discovers Organic Chemicals On Mars

Washington DC: After the Perseverance rover landed on the surface of Mars in February this year, the six-wheeled rover has made a fascinating discovery.

The Scientists at NASA's Perseverence Mars Rover Mission have discovered that rocks in the Jezero Crater have interacted multiple times with water over the eons and that some contain organic molecules.

The organic compounds on the 45 kilometres Jezero was discovered by the team using the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument.

It was found that the interiors of abraded rocks and the dust on non-abraded rock contains carbon molecules.

According to scientists finding of organics in the Martian surface does not necessarily confirm that life once existed in Jezero. According to them organics can be created by both biological and non-biological mechanisms.

However, the scientist further added that the preservation of organics inside ancient rocks -- regardless of origin -- at both Gale and Jezero Craters does hint that potential biosignatures (signs of life, whether past or present) could be preserved too.

Luther Beegle, principal investigator of SHERLOC at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, in a statement said that the answers to this question may be solved after the samples are returned to earth.

Scientists further added that the Martian samples will be a source of scientific inquiry and discovery for many years.

These discoveries were presented at the American Geophysical Union fall science meeting which was recently held in New Orleans.

Since landing in February this year, the six-wheeled Perseverance rover has been collecting rock samples in the red planet in the quest for ancient microscopic life.

The rover has 43 sample tubes out of which six tubes have been sealed to date. Four of the sealed tubes contains rock cores, one tube contains Martian atmosphere and another one contains "witness" material to observe any contamination the rover might have brought from Earth.

The scientists have also discovered that the Jezero Crater on Mars where the Perseverance rover has been driving on since landing in February is likely formed from red-hot magma.

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