NASA’s Perseverance rover continues its mission to explore the Martian surface in search of signs of ancient life
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Two of NASA’s robotic explorers, Perseverance and Curiosity, have made separate but equally exciting discoveries on Mars — both suggesting the Red Planet may have once hosted life.
Though operating more than 2,000 miles apart, the car-sized rovers have been exploring ancient craters for years, searching for signs that Mars was once habitable. Their latest findings, both made in March, have scientists more curious than ever.
Perseverance rover discovers unusual spherical rock on Mars
While travelling along the rim of Jezero Crater, Perseverance came across a peculiar rock formation on 11 March. Nicknamed ‘St. Pauls Bay’ by the mission team, the rock is covered in hundreds of tiny, dark-grey spheres, some elongated, others angular, with a few sporting curious pinholes.
NASA shared a detailed image a few days later, taken with the rover’s SuperCam, and the discovery quickly sparked scientific excitement. While similar spherical formations have been found on Mars before — often explained as the result of groundwater movement through rock pores — this one appears different.
What makes it stand out? Scientists believe the rock is out of place, possibly linked to a dark-toned geological layer previously spotted from orbit by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
“Understanding where this rock came from could help unlock the geological history of Jezero’s rim — and maybe more,” NASA said in a statement.
Curiosity rover finds largest organic compounds on Mars
Meanwhile, over in Gale Crater, the veteran Curiosity rover made a discovery of its own — this time by reanalysing an old sample known as ‘Cumberland’. Originally drilled back in 2013 from an area called Yellowknife Bay, the powdered rock was recently scanned again using upgraded techniques.
The results were remarkable: the largest organic molecules ever found on Mars. These molecules, believed to be fragments of fatty acids, are known on Earth as key components of biological life — although they can also form through non-biological processes.
“It’s the strongest evidence yet that organic chemistry on Mars may have once supported life, or at least moved in that direction,” NASA said.
Cumberland had already intrigued scientists with its clay-rich structure — clays that typically form in water — and its presence of sulfur, another element essential to life’s building blocks.
NASA plans to bring Mars rock samples back to Earth
Curiosity and Perseverance have been steadily collecting samples across their respective craters — 42 in total for Curiosity, and over two dozen for Perseverance, some of which have been safely stored in a sample depot on the Martian surface.
Now, attention turns to bringing those samples back to Earth, where labs can analyse them using equipment far more powerful than what’s on board the rovers.
“We’re ready to take the next big step,” said Daniel Glavin, senior scientist at NASA. “It’s time to bring Mars samples home and finally settle the question of whether life ever existed on the Red Planet.”
The answer may be locked inside a Martian rock — and if all goes to plan, Earth’s scientists could be holding it in their hands in just a few years.
