RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
In this August 4, 2022, image obtained from NASA rocky outcrop called “Wildcat Ridge,” where the rover extracted two rock cores and abraded a circular patch to investigate the rock’s composition. The site is in the delta where billions of years ago a river once flowed into a lake in Jezero Crater. Scientists consider this area one of the best places on Mars to search for potential signs of ancient microbial life. - NASA has detected its highest concentrations of organic molcules yet, in a potential sign of ancient microbes that scientists are eager to confirm when the rock samples are eventually brought to Earth. While organic matter has been found on the Red Planet before, the latest discovery came from an area that in the distant past hosted a delta, where sediment and salts were deposited into a lake in conditions where life could have arisen. (Photo by Handout / NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS