NASA’s Perseverance rover has been exploring the ancient lakebed in Jezero crater on Mars since landing there in February 2021. The rover holds 43 sample tubes containing Martian material of scientific interest, but a crucial challenge lies ahead: bringing these samples back to Earth.
As planetary scientist David Shuster notes, “These samples are the reason why our mission was flown.” The samples hold vital clues about past life on Mars, which is essential for understanding the planet’s history and potential habitability. However, the cost of launching a sample-return mission has ballooned to around $11 billion, pushing back the timeline to 2040.
In response, NASA plans to bring the samples back to Earth using the most advanced laboratories available. The samples will be analyzed to determine what was happening on Mars 3.5 billion years ago and whether life existed there at that time.
As project scientist Ken Farley notes, “Life was doing its thing on Earth at that point in time, 3.5 billion years ago. The basic question is, was life also doing its thing on Mars at that point in time?” Once the samples are back on Earth, scientists may finally be able to answer this question.
The analysis of the river delta deposits was published on August 14 in the American Geophysical Union’s journal AGU Advances.
Source: https://www.space.com/perseverance-mars-rover-sample-return