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This image shows: NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z instrument to view this workspace around the sample collected from a rock nicknamed "Cheyava Falls." A drill hole is visible (far left) where a sample was collected on July 21, 2024. At right is a rock nicknamed "Steamboat Mountain." A circular white abrasion patch can be seen on each rock; these are where the rover used an abrasion tool to clear away the top surface, allowing instruments to study the rocks' composition.
The images that make up this composite were taken by the rover's Mastcam-Z instrument on July 23, 2024, the 1217th day, or sol, of the mission.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has discovered a rock on Mars that contains what scientists believe may be signs of ancient life.
The rock, dubbed “Cheyava Falls” by the rover’s science team, exhibits intriguing characteristics that suggest it may have hosted life billions of years ago.
Analysis conducted by Perseverance’s onboard instruments indicates that a core sample contains chemical signatures and structures potentially formed by life when the area was rich with flowing water. While these features could indicate ancient microbial life, alternative explanations are still being considered, and further research is essential to confirm this hypothesis.
The rock, which is the rover’s 22nd rock core sample, was collected on 21 July as the rover navigated the northern edge of Neretva Vallis. This ancient river valley, measuring a quarter-mile wide, was once carved by water flowing into Jezero Crater.
Nicola Fox, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, remarked on the significance of the find: “This trip through the Neretva Vallis riverbed paid off as we found something we’ve never seen before, which will give our scientists so much to study.”
Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist at Caltech, highlighted the rock's potential importance: “Cheyava Falls is the most puzzling, complex, and potentially important rock yet investigated by Perseverance. We have our first compelling detection of organic material and evidence that water once passed through the rock. However, we still need to determine exactly how the rock formed.”
Named after a Grand Canyon waterfall, Cheyava Falls measures 3.2 feet by 2 feet. The rock’s white calcium sulfate veins and reddish bands suggest the presence of hematite, a mineral that contributes to Mars’s distinctive rusty hue. Closer inspection revealed millimeter-sized off-white splotches surrounded by black material, akin to leopard spots. These black halos contain both iron and phosphate, as determined by the rover’s PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) instrument.
David Flannery, an astrobiologist from Queensland University of Technology and a member of the Perseverance science team, explained, “On Earth, these types of features in rocks are often associated with the fossilized record of microbes living in the subsurface.”
As NASA continues to explore Mars, Cheyava Falls represents a significant step in the search for ancient life on the Red Planet. Further analysis and research will be required to unravel the mysteries held within this intriguing rock.
Where: United States
When: 25 Jul 2024
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Cover Images
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