Jakarta –
Two rock samples Mars collected by explorer robot Perseverance most likely contain water bubbles that are evidence of the existence of ancient Martian life.
The rock samples found include mineral salts, which can reveal insights into the ancient climate and habitability of Mars billions of years ago, and could even preserve evidence of ancient life, if it ever existed on the Red Planet.
Perseverance was able to collect its first two rock samples on September 6 and 8, dubbed Montdenier and Montagnac, from the same rock named Rochette.
Quoted from CNN, Monday (13/9/2021) the robot explorer is currently exploring Jezero Crater, an ancient lake site that is more than 3 billion years old.
“Because these rocks have high scientific potential, we decided to take two samples here,” said Katie Stack Morgan, Deputy Project Scientist Perseverance at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, USA.
Rocks within the crater can tell scientists about ancient volcanic activity in the area, as well as whether water was present for long periods of time, or whether it came and went as the climate fluctuated. These two rock samples suggest that groundwater may have existed in the area for a long time.
“It looks like the first rock we found reveals a potentially livable sustainable environment. An important issue is knowing that water has been there for a long time,” said Ken Farley, Project Scientist for the Persistence mission at the California Institute of Technology.
Rochette’s rock is basaltic, meaning it was most likely formed by ancient lava flows. Crystalline minerals in rocks like these can help scientists get a very accurate date and tell when the rock was formed.
The mineral salts in rocks are the result of rocks changing over time. They can form when groundwater changes the original minerals in lava rock or when water evaporates and leaves salt behind.
While groundwater may have been part of the lake that once filled Jezero Crater and its river delta, scientists cannot ignore the fact that water may have passed through the rocks even after the lake dried up and disappeared.
But the rocks give the Perseverance science team hope that water may have existed long enough to create a habitable environment in which ancient microbial life could thrive.
These two samples are the first of more than 30 samples that the rover will collect and eventually return to Earth on various missions, called Mars Sample Returns, in 2031.
“What we plan to do is launch some missions. One of them will be a sample lander that will actually take the sample and bring it into Mars orbit. Then there is the orbiter, Earth Return Orbiter, which will capture this orbiting sample. , and then the orbiter returns to Earth,” said Meenakshi Wadhwa, principal scientist for Mars Sample Return at JPL and Arizona State University.
After returning to Earth, some of the samples will be investigated in various ways, while the rest will remain sealed so that future scientists with better technology can study them, such as the Apollo moon samples.
“These samples are of great value for future laboratory analysis on Earth. One day, we may be able to find out the order and timing of the environmental conditions represented by these rock minerals. This will help answer big picture scientific questions about the history and stability of liquid water in Mars,” said Mitch Schulte, mission program scientist at NASA headquarters.
Watch video ”China’s Zhurong Rover Passes 100 Days on Mars“
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(rns/fay)
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