{"id":47703,"date":"2023-07-13T07:22:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T07:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=120374"},"modified":"2023-07-13T09:32:40","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T09:32:40","slug":"perseverance-rover-may-have-found-evidence-of-key-building-blocks-of-life-on-mars","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/perseverance-rover-may-have-found-evidence-of-key-building-blocks-of-life-on-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"Perseverance rover may have found evidence of key building blocks of life on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Organics in Jezero Crater may have a geological source, but could have been left by ancient microbial life. <\/p>

By Iain Todd\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 13 July 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

The Perseverance rover<\/a> may have found evidence of key building blocks of life in organic signatures hidden within Martian rocks.<\/p>\n

The organics \u2013 a class of carbon-based molecule \u2013 were discovered in Mars\u2019s Jezero Crater and may have a geological source, but could also have been left by ancient microbial life.<\/p>\n

The discovery was made using the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) instrument on Perseverance\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n

SHERLOC is a multi-tooled instrument that deploys cameras, spectrometers and a laser to search for organics and minerals that could have been affected by Mar\u2019s ancient wet history and which could be signs of past microbial life.<\/p>\n

\""Close-up\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Close-up view of a rock target named Dourbes provided by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera on Perseverance Mars rover. 8 images were captured on 5 November 2021 and merged to create this view. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

This discovery could be a key piece in the puzzle as to whether life exists \u2013 or ever did exist \u2013 elsewhere in the Solar System beyond Earth.<\/p>\n

As Mars<\/a> is known to have once been a warmer, wetter world than what we see today, it is an important body for study in the search for habitability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the first reports of potential organics in Jezero crater,\u201d says Ashley E. Murphy of the Planetary Science Institute and co-author of the study, which appears in the science journal Nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SHERLOC instrument on the Perseverance rover\u2019s robotic arm allows for the spatial resolution needed to observe important mineral-organic relationships to evaluate potential biosignatures<\/a>.\u201d Murphy says.<\/p>\n

Sunanda Sharma of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory<\/a> and Ryan D. Roppel of the University of Pittsburgh<\/a> are co-lead authors of the study.<\/p>\n

\""The\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The remains of an ancient delta in Mars\u2019s Jezero Crater, as seen by the Mars Express Orbiter. Credit: ESA\/DLR\/FU-Berlin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The study reports Perseverance\u2019s detection of \u201cRaman and fluorescence spectra consistent with multiple species of aromatic organic molecules in the M\u00e1az and S\u00e9\u00edtah formations within the Crater Floor sequences of Jezero crater.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big takeaway here is, with SHERLOC\u2019s grain-by-grain resolution we can finally observe variation in organic preservation within the rocks on Mars,\u201d Murphy says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fluorescence features detected with SHERLOC are consistent with types of organics \u2013 single-ring aromatics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons \u2013 previously observed in Gale Crater and Martian meteorites.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe detection of diverse organics in two ancient lakes (Gale and Jezero craters) on Mars is important for understanding the extent and diversity of Martian surface processes and how this relates to habitability and potential life detection.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the study authors are keen to point out that not all organics are biological in origin, but that discoveries like this are key in determining how Martian geology compares to Earth, in terms of the preservation of organics and understanding the potential for Mars to host life.<\/p>\n

\""Jezer\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Illustration of Jezero Crater, Perseverance rover\u2019s landing site, as it may have looked billions of years ago, when it was a lake. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Perseverance rover has been studying Jezero Crater since landing there on 18 February 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The region is a 45km-wide feature that mission scientists believe may have once been flooded with water, and home to an ancient river delta.<\/p>\n

As a result, any microbial life that ever existed on Mars could have been found in Jezero Crater, making it an important region for study.<\/p>\n

psi.edu<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Read the full paper at www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-023-06143-z<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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