Page 4 - Spec Tech Vol 1 Issue 04
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Perseverance rover collects Mars samples rich in
'organic matter' for future return to Earth
In just a year and a half on Mars, NASA's Perseverance
rover has absolutely rocked its mission. The agency
held a briefing on Thursday to discuss highlights from
the science mission so far, and it was a celebration of
rock samples and the discovery of organic matter.
A rock named Wildcat Ridge, located in an ancient river
delta region of Jezero Crater, was one of the stars of the
show. Percy successfully collected two samples from the
Perseverance collected two core samples from Wildcat
Ridge and also abraded a round patch to inspect the rock mudstone rock. Wildcat Ridge is particularly exciting
with its Sherloc instrument. (Image credit: NASA/JPL- because the organic molecules (called aromatics) found
Caltech/ASU/MSSS)
in it are considered a potential biosignature, which
NASA describes as a substance or structure that
could be evidence of past life but may also have been
produced without the presence of life.
The rover team emphasized that finding organic
matter doesn't mean it's found evidence of ancient
life. Organic molecules have been spotted on Mars
before, by the Curiosity rover in Gale Crater and also
by Perseverance, which found carbon-containing
molecules earlier in the mission. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS)
The rover's Sherloc instrument investigated the rock. (Sherloc stands for Scanning Habitable
Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals.) "In its analysis of Wildcat
Ridge, the Sherloc instrument registered the most abundant organic detections on the mission to
date," NASA said.
Scientists are seeing familiar signs in the analysis of Wildcat Ridge. "In the distant past, the
sand, mud and salts that now make up the Wildcat Ridge sample were deposited under
conditions where life could potentially have thrived," said Perseverance project scientist Ken
Farley in a statement. "The fact the organic matter was found in such a sedimentary rock --
known for preserving fossils of ancient life here on Earth -- is important."
Perseverance isn't equipped to find definitive evidence of ancient microbial life on the red planet.
"The reality is the burden of proof for establishing life on another planet is very, very high," said
Farley during the press conference. For that, we need to examine Mars rocks up close and in
person in Earth labs.
Percy currently has 12 rock samples on board, including the Wildcat Ridge pieces and samples
from another sedimentary delta rock called Skinner Ridge. It also collected igneous rock samples
earlier in the mission that point to the impact of long-ago volcanic action in the crater.
NASA is so happy with the diversity of samples collected that it's looking into dropping some of
the filled tubes off on the surface soon in preparation for the future Mars Sample Return (MSR)
campaign. MSR is an ambitious plan to send a lander to Mars, pick up Percy's samples, rocket
them off the surface and bring them back to Earth for close study. The mission is under
development. If all goes as planned, those rocks could be here by 2033.
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