NASA said it was excited about finding organics on Mars.
Carbon is one of the organic things that life is made of. The carbon in your body is very high. What do you think about the organics on Mars?
We will let you make that decision. The space agency's Perseverance rover collected valuable rock samples that contained organics. There was a once-watery place on Mars where life could have flourished. It is an interesting, compelling, and cool find.
It isn't proof of life. It's not even close.
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The Perseverance rover is being used by NASA to collect rock samples for a later mission to return to Earth in the early 20th century. Ultra- clean sample tubes will be used to store the rocks.
If life existed in the Jezero crater, it would have evolved and flourished. Water once flowed from a river into a lake in this region of Mars. NASA's planetary scientists think they will be able to identify indicators of past life if they collect rocks there.
"The burden of proof for establishing life on another planet is very, very high."
NASA won't say that the rover found evidence of life soon. The samples need to be carefully scrutinized on Earth to find out what happened.
Ken said that the burden of proof for establishing life on another planet was very high.
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NASA paid special attention to a three-foot-wide rock called "Wildcat Ridge." The space agency zapped the rock with a special laser to see the chemicals on it. "Organic materials" were the ones they found.
Life isn't defined by organic materials. Oxygen and hydrogen are elements that sound familiar. planetary scientists are given a hint that a rock or area on Mars is a good place to investigate.
According to NASA, the presence of these specific molecule is considered to be a potential biosignature, a substance or structure that could be evidence of past life but also have been produced without the presence of life.
Before, the space agency has found organics. The organic findings in the Jezero crater are so exciting that life might have survived in a riverdelta.
A rock core drilled by the Perseverance rover in Mars' Jezero Crater. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / MSSS
It is important that the organic matter was found in a rock that is known for preserving fossils of ancient life. As capable as our instruments aboard Perseverance are, further conclusions regarding what is contained in the Wildcat Ridge sample will have to wait until it's returned to Earth for in-depth study as part of the agency's Mars Sample Return campaign.
It's understandable to be curious about what NASA's rover saw on Mars. Any announcement of life is not the same thing. It would be one of the most significant discoveries of all time if it happened. Our view of the universe would be completely different.
There is only one place we know about life. Don't treat it badly.
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