The Washington Post reported that NASA rover Perseverance “has hit what scientists are hoping is pay dirt.” Martian rocks excavated “by the rover show signs of a watery past and are loaded with the kind of organic molecules that are the foundation for life as we know it.” Scientists collaborating on the mission “also say the rock samples, which the rover has cached in tubes for a future return to Earth, have the right chemical recipe to preserve evidence of ancient Martian life, if it ever existed.” The new Perseverance research “is detailed in three extensive studies published Wednesday, one in the journal Science and two in the journal Science Advances.”
Aviation Today (Washington Post)
Tag: Possible
Webb Telescope Spots Possible Signature of Life on Distant Planet
The Washington Post reports, “A distant planet’s atmosphere shows signs of molecules that on Earth are associated only with biological activity, a possible signal of life on what is suspected to be a watery world, according to a report published Wednesday that analyzed observations by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The peer-reviewed report in the Astrophysical Journal Letters presents more questions than answers, acknowledges numerous uncertainties and does not declare the discovery of life beyond Earth, something never conclusively detected. But the authors do claim to have found the best evidence to date of a possible “biosignature” on a planet far from our solar system.”
Full Story (Washington Post)