The Perseverance rover explored the remains inside a Martian crater, which resembles a dry lake. The device has been on Mars since February 2021.
The POT shared new images of mars taken by perseverance, the most advanced and sophisticated robot built to do science on the planet. Among the novelties, the presence of a diversity of molecules in rocks in a place where a long time ago there was a lake.
The most recent evidence comes from an instrument called SHERLOC mounted on the six-wheeled rover’s robotic arm enabling detailed mapping and analysis of organic molecules. pictures show geological indications of a mighty river that fed Jezero craterthe site of an ancient Martian lake.
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As indicated by the US space agency, evidence indicating the presence of organic molecules in multiple rock samples, including some collected for possible return to Earth for future analysis. In addition, the researchers detailed that “the organic compounds are the molecular components of life as we know it, but they can also be formed from geological processes that are not directly related to life”.
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For his part, study co-author ryan ropel He said: “The concentrations we have detected are generally low, but we have observed signals associated with organic compounds in almost all the rocks we have sampled.”
Perseverance is exploring the floor of Jezero crater, which had a large lake and river delta billions of years ago. The car-sized robot landed inside the 45-kilometer-wide crater in February 2021 along with the small Ingenuity helicopter. Meanwhile, he is part of a mission to find evidence of ancient life on Mars and collect rock and soil samples for a possible return to Earth.
Source: Ambito
