On the prowl at Jezero Crater, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover is loaded with scientific equipment.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The case for the detection of a potential biosignature on Mars will be made today during this week’s Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
Since its landing in February 2021, the Perseverance rover has explored and sampled igneous and sedimentary rocks in Jezero Crater. Its mission is to characterize early Martian geological processes and habitability and search for biosignatures.
Artist’s illustration of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Distinct outcrops
Upon entering Neretva Vallis, NASA’s Perseverance rover has investigated a set of distinct mudstone and conglomerate outcrops. Collectively, these outcrops are called the Bright Angel formation.
Dozens of researchers from around the world are listed in the paper to be detailed today, led by Joel Hurowitz, an associate professor at Stony Brook University’s Department of Geosciences.
“We report on measurements from these rocks and describe the discovery of a potential biosignature,” Hurowitz and colleagues explain.
Informally named ‘Leopard Spots,” the features have been appraised by the Perseverance rover. An analysis by the robot’s Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry( PIXL) reveals that poppy seeds and leopard spot rims are enriched in ferrous iron and phosphorous,
while leopard spot cores are enriched in iron and sulfur.
Image credit: Joel Hurowitz, et al.
Microbial respiration
The researchers flag the finding of “poppy seeds and leopard spots” as potential biosignatures in material investigated by the Perseverance rover.
“On Earth, such organic matter mediated mineral forming reactions are often driven by, or are closely associated with, microbial respiration of organic matter,” the research team explains.
Additionally, models of the reaction chemistry that formed these features are consistent with a microbially mediated process, they report.
Closer examination
Given that the robot has collected a wide range of specimens at Jezero Crater, the hope is that a future Mars sample return mission can whisk them back to Earth.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Analysis of the core sample collected from this unit using high-sensitivity instrumentation on Earth will enable tests to assess the biogenicity of the minerals, organics, and textures it contains,” Hurowitz and colleagues report.
The paper – “The detection of a potential biosignature by the Perseverance rover on Mars” – is on tap for discussion at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, underway this week in The Woodlands, Texas and held by the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI).
For the research paper overview, go to:
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2025/pdf/2581.pdf