NASA’s Perseverance rover has discovered what may be the clearest evidence yet that Mars once supported microbial life, after analyzing a rock sample formed billions of years ago at the bottom of an ancient lake.
The sample, dubbed Sapphire Canyon, was collected in July 2024 from a fine-grained, rusty-red mudstone at a site called Bright Angel in Jezero Crater. Scientists reported on Wednesday in the journal Nature that the rock contains chemical and mineral features resembling possible biosignatures, signs that could indicate a biological origin.
“This very well could be the clearest sign of life that we’ve ever found on Mars — which is incredibly exciting,” Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy told reporters.
Researchers detected ring-shaped patterns resembling leopard spots and dark specks similar to poppy seeds within the sample, structures that may have formed through microbial activity.
Instruments aboard Perseverance also identified two key minerals: vivianite, which contains iron and phosphorus, and greigite, which contains iron and sulfur. On Earth, such minerals often form through chemical reactions driven by microbes consuming organic matter.
“The microbes are consuming the organic matter in these settings and producing these new minerals as a byproduct of their metabolism,” said lead study author Joel Hurowitz, a planetary scientist at Stony Brook University.
The rover’s analysis also revealed abundant organic carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, and oxidized iron, elements that could have provided rich energy sources for ancient microbial metabolisms.
A reddish rock nicknamed “Cheyava Falls”, with features resembling leopard spots was discovered by NASA’s Perseverance rover in Mars’ Jezero Crater in July 2024, in this handout photograph released on September 10, 2025. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Handout via REUTERS
Scientists estimate the rock formed between 3.2 and 3.8 billion years ago, when Jezero Crater hosted a vast lake fed by river channels.
Still, researchers cautioned that non-biological processes could have produced the same features. “We cannot claim this is more than a potential biosignature,” Hurowitz noted. “There are chemical processes that can cause similar reactions in the absence of biology.”
NASA officials emphasized that no living organism has been found. “It’s not life itself,” said Nicky Fox, head of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate.
The findings underscore the importance of returning samples to Earth for more definitive analysis. However, President Donald Trump’s proposed budget plan would cancel NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission, raising questions about whether the Sapphire Canyon core can be retrieved.
“We’re going to look at our budgets and our timing, and how we spend money better, and what technology we have to get samples back more quickly,” Duffy said.
Perseverance has been exploring Jezero Crater since 2021, searching for clues to Mars’ wetter, more habitable past.
The latest discovery offers a tantalizing glimpse into the Red Planet’s history, and humanity’s quest to answer whether life once existed beyond Earth.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
