SAN FRANCISCO, iNews.id – NASA has high hopes for Jezero Crater on Mars. The Perseverance rover’s first rock core samples from the now dry lake bottom give scientists plenty of reason to be excited.
“It looks like our first rock reveals a potentially habitable sustainable environment,” said Perseverance project scientist Ken Farley of Caltech.
The big problem, NASA says, is that the water is there for a long time. Researchers have been investigating how long the water has remained at the bottom of the lake. If groundwater is present for a long time, it could become conducive to microbial life, as quoted from Cnet.
After its first failed sample collection attempt, Perseverance won by successfully drilling and saving its first core sample from a different rock dubbed “Rochette.” Then followed by a second sample. Analysis shows Rochette appears to have come from a volcano.
Editor: Dini Listiyani
