2023-07-13 19:30:00
NASA’s Perseverance robot found organic matter on Mars, according to an article published in the journal Nature on Wednesday (12). Despite the importance of the feat for the device launched on the inhospitable red planet in 2020, in search of traces of life, the publication does not reveal which molecules were found in the so-called Jezero crater.
The material may indicate that the geochemical cycle of formation of the planet is more complex than imagined. In 2022, NASA had already announced that Perseverance found a sign of possible microbial life on the planet. It is estimated that Jezero was a lake billions of years ago. The most accepted hypothesis to explain the finding is the interaction between water and rock, interplanetary dust deposits or meteor collisions.
The device responsible for carrying out the analysis was named SHERLOC —something like exploring habitable environments with Raman and luminescence for organics and chemicals— and allows for cartography and detailed analysis of organic substances present in minerals. In total, SHERLOC had ten targets in all to examine, all of which identified organic substances.
The project’s focus is not only on gaining a better understanding of the planet’s early formation and evolution, but also on analyzing the history of geological processes that shaped Mars over time and interpreting the planet’s potential to have once harbored life. This event follows a similar feat achieved by James Webb. The super telescope has detected for the first time a carbon molecule in space, an essential component for the formation of life.
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