A 350-billion-year-old rock discovered on the Red Planet is “the closest we’ve come to discovering ancient life on Mars,” according to NASA.
Potential signs of microbial life were found in a rock sample collected by the rover in 2024 from an ancient dry riverbed on Mars’ Jezero Crater — an area of rocky outcrops on the edges the Neretva Vallis, a river valley carved by water rushing to the canyon billions of years ago, NASA officials announced in a press conference on Wednesday.
The sample, named Sapphire Canyon, contains potential biosignatures, which are substances or structures that might have a biological origin, NASA said.
The finding is the closest astronomers have ever come to discovering life on Mars, Sean Duffy, acting NASA administrator, told reporters in Wednesday’s news conference.
The sample was collected in 2024 from a rock named Cheyava Falls. The arrowhead-shaped rock measures about 3.2 feet by 2 feet and contains what appears to be colorful spots that could have been left behind by microbial life.
Higher-resolution images revealed a distinct pattern of minerals arranged into reaction fronts, or points of contact where chemical and physical reactions occur, according to NASA.
NASA said the only way to confirm the findings is to return the sample to Earth. However, the Trump administration has recommended eliminating the funding for a program that would have returned Mars samples to Earth.