NASA Perseverance rover on Mars discovered signs of microbial life on 21 July on a rock named Cheyava Falls which is an arrow-shaped rock. The rover drilled the reddish rock sample when it made this discovery on the northern edge of Neretva Vallis

The six-wheeled geologist found a fascinating rock that has some indications it may have hosted microbial life billions of years ago, but further research is needed.

A vein-filled rock is catching the eye of the science team of NASA’s Perseverance rover. Nicknamed “Cheyava Falls” by the team, the arrowhead-shaped rock contains fascinating traits that may bear on the question of whether Mars was home to microscopic life in the distant past.

Analysis by instruments aboard the rover indicates the rock possesses qualities that fit the definition of a possible indicator of ancient life. The rock exhibits chemical signatures and structures that could possibly have been formed by life billions of years ago when the area being explored by the rover contained running water. Other explanations for the observed features are being considered by the science team, and future research steps will be required to determine whether ancient life is a valid explanation.

The rock — the rover’s 22nd rock core sample — was collected on July 21, as the rover explored the northern edge of Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley measuring a quarter-mile (400 meters) wide that was carved by water rushing into Jezero Crater long ago.

We have designed the route for Perseverance to ensure that it goes to areas with the potential for interesting scientific samples,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This trip through the Neretva Vallis riverbed paid off as we found something we’ve never seen before, which will give our scientists so much to study

Cheyava Falls is the most puzzling, complex, and potentially important rock yet investigated by Perseverance,” said Ken Farley,Perseverance project scientist of Caltech in Pasadena. “On the one hand, we have our first compelling detection of organic material, distinctive colorful spots indicative of chemical reactions that microbial life could use as an energy source, and clear evidence that water — necessary for life — once passed through the rock. On the other hand, we have been unable to determine exactly how the rock formed and to what extent nearby rocks may have heated Cheyava Falls and contributed to these features.

More Mission Information

A key objective of Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including caching samples that may contain signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, to help pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet and as the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), is designed to send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemismissions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

As of July 30, 2024, there is no conclusive evidence that life has existed on Mars in the past or present. However, there is evidence that Mars may have been habitable for microorganisms during the ancient Noachian period, billions of years ago: 

• Liquid water Evidence suggests that Mars had liquid water on its surface during this time. 
• Organic matter NASA’s Perseverance rover has detected organic matter on Mars, which is the first time this has been done. 
• Discolored spots The rover also found discolored spots on a rock nicknamed Cheyava Falls, which could be evidence of microbial activity. 

Other evidence suggests that Mars may have had an atmosphere that could support life, and that there may have once been a large ocean on the planet. Some scientists believe that the subsurface of Mars may have been an even better environment for microbes to thrive in, protected from the harmful radiation on the surface

At least two-thirds of Mars’ surface is more than 3.5 billion years old, and it could have been habitable 4.48 billion years ago, 500 million years before the earliest known Earth lifeforms; Mars may thus hold the best record of the prebiotic conditions leading to life, even if life does not or has never existed there

Once again, some evidence has been seen on Mars which has raised hopes of life there. Scientists believe that life cannot be naturally self-sufficient in every favorable environment. The ingredients for the creation of life are present everywhere in the universe

There have been many speculations about the past presence of life on Mars. If there was life there, why does it not exist there today? In a new study, scientists have concluded that initially bacteria flourished on Mars, but they also made themselves extinct. They believe that ancient bacterial life on Mars likely destroyed the planet’s atmosphere through climate change which ultimately led to the extinction of the bacteria.

It is possible that life appears regularly in the universe
Scientists believe that life cannot be naturally self-sufficient in every favorable environment. The ingredients for the creation of life are present everywhere in the universe. Therefore, it is possible that life appears regularly in the universe. But the inability of life to maintain habitable conditions on the planet’s surface causes it to become extinct very rapid

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