Perseverance 360: Unusual Rocks and the Search for Life on Mars
Explanation:
Is that a
fossil?б
Looking through
recent images of Mars taken by the new
Perseverance rover
may seem a bit like treasure hunting,
with the possibility of fame coming to the first person to correctly identify a
petrified
bone, a rock imprinted by an
ancient plant, or any clear indication that life once existed on
Mars.б
Unfortunately, even though it is possible that something as
spectacular as a skeleton could be identified, most
exobiologists think it much more likely that
biochemical remnants of ancient single-celled
microbes could be
found with
Perseverance'sбchemical
analyzers.б
A key reason
is that
multicellular organisms
may take a greater amount of
oxygen to evolve than has
ever been present on Mars.
That said,
nobody's
sure, so please feel free to digitally magnify any Perseverance image that interests
you -- including the
featured 360-degree zoomable image of the
rocks and ridges surrounding Perseverance's landing location in
Jezero Crater.
And even though
NASA-affiliated scientists
are themselves studying Perseverance's images,
if you see anything
really unusual, please post it to
popular social media.
If your sighting turns out to be
particularly intriguing, scientifically,
it is likely that
NASA will hear about it.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
