Canadian scientists contribute to Perseverance Mars rover findings
Credit: NASA/JPL - Caltech
Three Canadian scientists from the University of Alberta, University of Winnipeg and Brock University contributed to exciting new findings yielded from the study of samples collected by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover.
Perseverance examined rocks from a formation named Bright Angel, found in a location believed to be an ancient river channel that fed the red planet's Jezero Crater with freshwater billions of years ago. Through their analyses, researchers believe that they have discovered a potential "biosignature": a substance, feature or pattern that may suggest the presence of past or present life.
Minerals found in the Bright Angel formation appear to be the result of chemical reactions of organic (i.e. carbon-rich) matter within the rocks. On Earth, similar minerals can be associated with the presence of microbial life, though alternative non-biological formation is possible. Scientists believe that further study of a sample collected from the Bright Angel formation is required to determine if life once existed on Mars.
As part of its mission, Perseverance uses its onboard scientific instruments in precise locations selected by experts to help investigate whether habitable conditions ever existed on Mars. With these new findings, researchers are one step closer to demonstrating if Mars may have once had the conditions to support life.
The area of Mars known as Bright Angel, as seen by the Perseverance rover. (Credit: NASA/JPL - Caltech)
These recent findings were published in Nature, in a paper co-authored by researchers representing three Canadian universities:
- Dr. Ed Cloutis, University of Winnipeg
- Dr. Chris Herd, University of Alberta
- Dr. Mariek Schmidt, Brock University