Scientists believe they can find the first evidence of ancient life on Mars, thanks to an image shared by NASA.
The photo was taken by NASA's Perseverance rover and shows what the mission team calls "Enchanted Lake."
You will have noticed that the lake looks very dry. All of Mars' water was gone billions of years ago.
It is possible that water could have harbored life there. Evidence of that life is what Perseverance is looking for.
Scientists believe that the lake was filled with water billions of years ago. The kind of geological feature that may give scientists the breakthrough they are looking for is contained in the delta.
The rock is made of mud, silt, and sand from a river that once flowed into the crater lake, so any organisms that existed at the time will have been captured within the layers.
The deputy project scientist for NASA's Perseverance rover said that it was love at first sight. Since Jezero was named the landing site for Perseverance almost four years ago, I have been looking forward to seeing the sedimentary rocks.
Perseverance has traveled further up the delta and is currently in a field of rocks called "Hogwallow Flats."
Perseverance will analyze some of the nearby rocks and possibly take a sample by drilling into it. The team will decide if Perseverance should go back to Enchanted Lake for more samples or if it should go somewhere else.
Scientists will use cutting-edge tools to determine if life ever existed on Mars after the collected samples are returned to Earth. It would be remarkable, but it would also help scientists to understand how life developed here on Earth.
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