Rocks from Jezero Crater Collected by NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Contain Organic Molecules

After the Perseverance rover's 500-day journey on Mars in the Jezero crater, NASA made its rock collection available to the general public. The fact that organic chemicals can be found in the rocks is incredible news for anyone who believes there may be life on Mars.

Perseverance Rock Discovery

The rover's SHERLOC and WATSON cameras help scientists locate a compelling location to collect samples. Afterward, samples are stored within a reliable test-tube-like container after drilling into a rock. So far, 12 tubes and other control samples have been successfully filled by scientists using the rover. It has a total capacity of 43 tubes.

Wired shared on its Twitter account the images from Perseverance.

Why are we so excited about new Mars rock samples collected by @NASAPersevere? Some have the highest concentration of organics this rover has ever seen.

It doesn't necessarily mean life-we've got to bring them back to find out. Here are the following steps: https://t.co/uWyaZbvQzm pic.twitter.com/SLsYbxrcwY

- NASA (@NASA) September 15, 2022

Perseverance Rock Deposit Contains Organic Molecules

Scientist for the Perseverance project at Caltech, Ken Farley, said at a NASA-sponsored symposium that they had found rocks in the lake that may have been deposited in a livable environment. They have been looking for probable biosignatures, he claimed.

The discovery of organic compounds in the rock suggests that life has been forming on the planet. According to Britannica, organic molecules, particularly carbon, are the building blocks of objects, animals, plants, and humans. It is responsible for forming all of the body's structures, including carbohydrates, proteins, and DNA.

The crew chose the crater as the rover's landing place due to the presence of organic material in the area, Wired reported. The crater looks to have been the location of a former river delta, which would have been an ideal place for ancient microbes to have originated and evolved.

However, according to Farley, organic molecules could have been created in different ways. He suggested that it's possible that the chemicals were created by natural abiotic processes. However, Perseverance cannot independently establish its origin. This is the rationale for NASA and the European Space Agency's proposal to collect a range of rocks from the area and return them to Earth in the early 2030s.

NASA Team Expects Perseverance Long Life Span

The Perseverance team anticipates a lengthy lifespan for the rover. They wish it would follow the same course as Curiosity, which is still operating.

Their preferred strategy is to have Perseverance carry the team's favorite rock samples to a brand-new lander fitted with a little rocket. It will send the rocks into orbit, where they will be brought to Earth by an orbiter. If everything goes according to plan, the orbiter and lander will be launched from Earth to Mars in 2027 and 2028, respectively. In 2033, the spacecraft carrying the rock samples will deliver them to the desert in western Utah.

NASA has a backup strategy in case something goes wrong. The rover will store some samples in a secure, flat location from which they can be quickly retrieved.

The cache should be left intact until the lander arrives because there isn't much weather on the planet and not many significant marsquakes that could harm the samples. Two helicopters will also be employed for the trip, which might be used to recover samples.

Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times.