Egypt Daily News – The Perseverance rover of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) found an arrowhead-shaped rock that may contain evidence of the existence of life on Mars billions of years ago.
NASA said that the rock, which is about a meter long, was discovered in Jezero Crater on the surface of Mars. The discovery was made during Perseverance’s walk along the northern edge of an ancient river valley.
The project scientist, who is leading the research, Ken Farley, said that the rock is “the most complex, puzzling, and perhaps important” rock that has been discovered so far on the Red Planet.
He explained that it showed “distinctive colored spots indicating chemical reactions that microbial life can use as a source of energy, and clear evidence that the water necessary for life once passed through the rock.”
NASA plans to transport a sample of the rock to Earth to conduct further research on how it formed, and to determine whether these chemical fingerprints are actually the result of previous biological activity.
