The Perseverance rover, which NASA sent to collect samples to find traces of life on Mars, found a suspicious rock in Jezero Crater. The rock, which indicates that it was once submerged in water, will be the vehicle’s new sample source.
The Perseverance vehicle, which was sent to Mars in mid-2020 to search for traces of life with the reconnaissance helicopter Ingenuity, landed on the red planet in February this year. After a long test, the two vehicles parted ways, and obtained a lot of photographs and some samples. Perseverance’s current focus is on the Jezero Crater, where it landed in February.
Perseverance recently sent photos of a layered rock to NASA. The task team shared these photos on Twitter on November 4. It has a structure that indicates the presence of water. The boulder will apparently become Perseverance’s new sample source.
Layers possibly formed in water may provide clues to the history of the environment
Layered rocks often take this shape with the help of water. The rock found on Mars fits this description, so both Jezero’s was once filled with water possibility; it also raises the possibility that at least micro-sized creatures may have lived here.
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The photo of the rock in question was shared on the Twitter account of the Perseverance team. The team used the following statements about the rock in the post: “Look at those layers! I take out my digging equipment to look inside. Layered rocks often form in water and can provide clues as to what their environment used to be like. Let’s see if this rock is a good spot to sample.”