Article highlights:
The rock, nicknamed Cheyava Falls, has three critical features:
- First, white veins of calcium sulfate are clear evidence that water once ran through it.
- Second, the rock tested positive for organic compounds, which are the carbon-based building blocks of life, as we know it.
- Third, it’s speckled with tiny “leopard spots” that point to chemical reactions that are associated with microbial life here on Earth.
However, both the organic material and the leopard spots could have come from non-biological processes.
The rover has reached the limit of what it can learn about the rock.
They go on to say that the confidence in biosignature detection could be elevated significantly if the rock were brought back to Earth for closer study. And, it’s implied that doing so would be a worthwhile endeavor.
Also, it will be returned to earth. All the perseverance samples will eventually be returned in a later mission.
Has the money actually already been allocated though? Because nothing’s final until it’s launched.
Nasa had a perfectly good moon buggy that they’ve had to scrap for no good reason, so just because it’s on the cards doesn’t mean it’ll definitely happen.
