Has Perseverance found a biosignature on Mars?

Flyaway

Flyaway

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This deserves its own thread. No doubt this will cause the US & China to step up their race for Mars.

Last year, we reported on the discovery of an intriguing arrow-shaped rock on Mars by NASA's Perseverance rover. The rock contained chemical signatures and structures that could have been formed by ancient microbial life. Granted, this was not slam-dunk evidence of past life on Mars, and the results were preliminary, awaiting peer review. But it was an intriguing possibility nonetheless.

Now further analysis and peer review are complete, and there is a new paper, published in the journal Nature, reporting on the findings. It's still not definitive proof that there was water-based life on Mars billions of years ago, but the results are consistent with a biosignature. It's just that other non-biological processes would also be consistent with the data, so definitive proof might require analysis of the Martian samples back on Earth. You can watch NASA's livestream briefing here.
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https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/09/has-perseverance-found-a-biosignature-on-mars/
 
BREAKING:
@NASA reveals details on Leopard-spotted Rock discovered last summer by the Perseverance Rover.
@NASAScienceAA: "We think they are potentially made by some sort of ancient life".

It could be the signature of a leftover meal which was excreted by a microbe.

Key word: signature - a leftover sign. It’s not life itself. It could’ve been from ancient life, billions of years ago. This is the closest we’ve come to discovering ancient life on Mars.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1965800073838875006
View: https://twitter.com/dpoddolphinpro/status/1965800073838875006
 
Nature paper.

Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars

Abstract
The Perseverance rover has explored and sampled igneous and sedimentary rocks within Jezero Crater to characterize early Martian geological processes and habitability and search for potential biosignatures1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Upon entering Neretva Vallis, on Jezero Crater’s western edge8, Perseverance investigated distinctive mudstone and conglomerate outcrops of the Bright Angel formation. Here we report a detailed geological, petrographic and geochemical survey of these rocks and show that organic-carbon-bearing mudstones in the Bright Angel formation contain submillimetre-scale nodules and millimetre-scale reaction fronts enriched in ferrous iron phosphate and sulfide minerals, likely vivianite and greigite, respectively. This organic carbon appears to have participated in post-depositional redox reactions that produced the observed iron-phosphate and iron-sulfide minerals. Geological context and petrography indicate that these reactions occurred at low temperatures. Within this context, we review the various pathways by which redox reactions that involve organic matter can produce the observed suite of iron-, sulfur- and phosphorus-bearing minerals in laboratory and natural environments on Earth. Ultimately, we conclude that analysis of the core sample collected from this unit using high-sensitivity instrumentation on Earth will enable the measurements required to determine the origin of the minerals, organics and textures it contains.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09413-0
Related National Geographic article.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/mars-rock-alien-life-microbes-chemistry
 
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Earth and Mars have been exchanging meteorites for billions of years, even if biological remains were found on Mars, that doesn't prove that life originated there.

Mars has also been bombarded intensively with meteorites containing amino acids. And perhaps with extraterrestrial life forms from outside the solar system.

Only thorough analysis of organic samples in well-equipped laboratories will be able to unravel the mystery, unless one of those rovers finds chiral DNA.
 
In a landmark announcement, NASA revealed that the Perseverance rover has discovered a potential biosignature in a rock sample named “Sapphire Canyon” from Cheyava Falls, in the Bright Angel formation in Jezero Crater—collected in July 2024. The sample’s sedimentary rocks, rich in organic carbon, sulfur, oxidized iron, and phosphorus, along with newly identified “leopard spots” made of vivianite and greigite, suggest chemical environments that on Earth preserve microbial life. The finding—reported in Nature—marks perhaps the closest we’ve yet come to finding evidence of ancient life on Mars. Dr. Steven Benner joins John to discuss this finding in detail.
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View: https://youtu.be/uNwywhLkoV4
 
Has NASA Found 3 Billion-Year-Old Dead Martians? Why A Green Crystal Could Be A Biosignature!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_49yqRWZNk



Sep 12, 2025
New research based upon measurements of microscopic spots in rocks on Mars has discovered minerals associated with biological processes on earth, and after months of trying to find an alternate explanation and failed they've concluded this could be the best evidence for martian life so far.
We could verify this in days..... if we could get the sample back to Earth.
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Flyaway said:
This deserves its own thread. No doubt this will cause the US & China to step up their race for Mars.
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I am not so sure---I could see folks calling for Mars to be eternally off limits--except MSR....there are-what?-six empty tubes left to put bites of rock into?

We have better rubber and fuel
https://phys.org/news/2025-05-rubber-material-ten-stronger-resistant.htmlhttps://phys.org/news/2025-08-chemists-high-energy-compound-fuel.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Red_Dragon
Maybe a new look at MSR can be had---this finding will, perhaps, rescue the mission.

My suggestion is that only tubes filled with THIS material (once cored out) be returned so as to relax ascent stage design.

That said, I don't want it in an aeroshell--I want it here:
https://spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com/2017/06/safeguarding-earth-from-martians.html
A Falcon-Heavy launched Red Dragon (more easily cleaned than Starship) lands not too far away. Percy travels with a tube or three and the Dragon mod handles everything else. Percy backs off, films the ascent--then goes back about its business with a temporary moratorium on Mars exploration until we can figure out what all this means for the future.

That's how this all goes--my prediction (YMMV)

Then too...
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/...-so-where-does-that-leave-mars-sample-return/"I have to look at dollars...and I have to look at return..."

I am going to be sick.

More
https://phys.org/news/2025-09-mars-perseverance-rover-presence-microbial.html
 
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I hope they do. Maybe that is the best kick in the seat of the pants of skinflints. I want that bunch of tightwads punted out of DC.
 
I am all in for utterly robust (and hopefully eventually, within my life span, human) Mars exploration, but my honest expectation is that it's dead, Jim.
 
publiusr said:
I hope they do. Maybe that is the best kick in the seat of the pants of skinflints. I want that bunch of tightwads punted out of DC.
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That has been a problem for NASA funding for decades, they could've done a LOT more if their funding wasn't controlled by a bunch of shortsighted, penny-pinching, pennywise pound foolish fools who clearly don't understand the concept of false-economy, the SLS programme is a good example of this myopic idiocy.​
 
Look at what is going on with Venus too though, suspected life high up in the atmosphere away from the acidic clouds. Never say never.
 
I am hoping that all instances of Venus and Mars life are just transplants of what we have here--but that might be considered contamination.

Any aquatic life on Europa, especially if it has a different chirality, would almost have to have been a second genesis.

At any rate, the culture war has consumed everything, and if this discovery of life proves to be real--it might put the kibosh on any further Mars missions.

John Carter
1912-2025

RIP
 
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Europa is certainly up there with Mars and Venus with the possibility of having some form of life. You are right in saying that the discovery of life on Mars if it turns out to be real may curtale the further human exploration of Mars by a few years.
 
FighterJock said:
Europa is certainly up there with Mars and Venus with the possibility of having some form of life. You are right in saying that the discovery of life on Mars if it turns out to be real may curtale the further human exploration of Mars by a few years.
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Unless it turns out to be some form of feline of course, in that case then ye old cat lovers will be screaming for manned flights yesterday....
 
If there is extraterrestrial life on Mars then special care needs to be taken not to contaminate the surface with earth origin lifeforms.
 
Hi,
The other day while it was raining, I stopped at a local gas station. And while was filling my tank I noticed the cement that I was parked on looked kind of like the Perserverance photos (as shown in the picture I took below). I wonder if that means there are Martians in my neighborhood :oops:

thumbnail_20250916_190003.jpg
 
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siegecrossbow said:
If there is extraterrestrial life on Mars then special care needs to be taken not to contaminate the surface with earth origin lifeforms.
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If you are serious about that--then no Starship.

A more modest manned craft might be cleaned more effectively--and I don't just mean before launch.
The level 4 hot zone lab precautions and those lock-out suits that dock to suitports are the way to go.

An automated lander/rover can't scrub itself down.

A manned craft might actually be cleaner in that you could have a brush or something to clean any tools before you walk towards a wetter area. Take booties off upon return.

Maybe a humanoid robot is a good way to go, especially if it could be heated without damage--or have an acid bath.
Between that and Mars' harsh conditions you can eliminate even more risks. No robot will ever sneeze, or have to return either.
Whatever landing craft is used--it needs a smooth surface that can be dealt with better than something with a lot of nooks and crannies.
 
Did NASA just find evidence of ancient life on Mars? Perseverance rover spots complex carbon in Red Planet rocks

Could Martian mudstones be holding evidence of ancient microbes? New findings strengthen the case that the Red Planet once held life.
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…

New data from NASA's Perseverance rover has revealed complex carbon in two Martian mudstones found in Mars' Jezero crater, the same location where previous evidence of possible ancient life has been found. Scientists think this macromolecular (meaning large) complex carbon, could hold evidence that ancient microbial life once existed in the same sedimentary material, according to one new paper describing these observations. "Measurements of two mudstones show hundreds of organic detections, making this the most robust organic detection in Jezero crater," the paper reads.
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PFJN said:
Hi,
The other day while it was raining, I stopped at a local gas station. And while was filling my tank I noticed the cement that I was parked on looked kind of like the Perserverance photos (as shown in the picture I took below). I wonder if that means there are Martians in my neighborhood :oops:

View attachment 785252
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It means that gas station was using a cheap cement mix ;).
 

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