First Rock Cores Drilled On Mars Offer Clues To Water, Ancient Life On Planet - NASA

The first two rock cores drilled out of the surface environment of Mars by the Perseverance Rover will give clues to the existence of ancient life on the Red Planet, NASA scientists said on Friday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2021) The first two rock cores drilled out of the surface environment of Mars by the Perseverance Rover will give clues to the existence of ancient life on the Red Planet, NASA scientists said on Friday.

"The presence of salts indicates that this rock was subject to water," Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) return sample scientist Yulia Goreva told a podcast press conference. "The science team is excited because this rock can be interrogated for its chemistry and salt: Within it, we can look for tiny inclusions of fluids."

The two drilled core samples are 5.

9 and 6.1 centimeters long. Eventually, up to 35 more samples are planned to be collected and they will be returned to Earth no sooner than 2031, scientists said.

The Perseverance Rover vehicle continues to be healthy and it has traveled 2.2 kilometers or 1.4 miles so far on its mission, JPL Perseverance surface emission manager Jessica Samuels told the briefing.

The vehicle's continued exploration of the Jezero Crater will give NASA scientists a glimpse of the location billions of years ago when it was ancient and wet and was capable of sustaining life, Samuels added.