{"id":798127,"date":"2025-09-10T11:34:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T16:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=798127"},"modified":"2025-09-10T11:34:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T16:34:25","slug":"nasa-says-mars-rock-is-a-potential-biosignature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=798127","title":{"rendered":"NASA says Mars rock is a potential biosignature"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nThis is the Mars rock Cheyava Falls in the Jezero Crater area of the red planet. The Perseverance rover drilled the hole we see here, extracting a sample called Sapphire Canyon. The white mark is from a test that Perseverance performed. NASA said on September 10, 2025, that the rock sample might show a potential biosignature. Image via NASA\/ JPL-Caltech\/ MSSS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
NASA says Mars rock is a potential biosignature<\/h3>\n
On September 10, 2025, NASA held a press conference to discuss a rock sample from Mars called Sapphire Canyon. The Perseverance rover drilled this rock sample from an area on Mars thought to be an ancient river delta. The rock is peppered with black spots called poppy seeds and lighter spots with dark rims resembling leopard spots. And now NASA is saying that, so far, they have no other good explanation for what created these spots except for biological processes. It\u2019s not yet confirmed, but signs point to life.<\/p>\n
Nicola (Nicky) Fox is the associate administrator for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate. Fox said: <\/p>\n
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We think they are potentially made by some form of ancient life. It\u2019s a signature. It\u2019s a sort of leftover sign. It\u2019s not life itself \u2026 Nothing that\u2019s currently there. It could be made by ancient life. \u2026 It\u2019s the equivalent of seeing leftover fossils. This certainly is not the final answer.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Katie Stack Morgan, the Deputy Project Scientist of the Mars 2020 rover mission, said: <\/p>\n
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The discovery of a potential biosignature \u2026 requires further work to confirm. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
So the search for life beyond Earth continues. Will life ever be confirmed to have existed on Mars? And if we do find evidence for life on the planet right next door \u2013 in one of the closest places we\u2019ve looked \u2013 what might that mean for life in our universe?<\/p>\n
Perseverance rover on Mars<\/h3>\n
The Perseverance rover touched down in Mars\u2019 Jezero Crater in February 2021. Scientists chose Jezero Crater because it appears the area was a lake a few billion years ago. It\u2019s possible this lake was once habitable, and if so, it might still hold evidence of ancient life. Ken Farley at Caltech in Pasadena, California, is the project scientist for the Perseverance mission. He said:<\/p>\n
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We picked Jezero Crater as a landing site because orbital imagery showed a delta; clear evidence that a large lake once filled the crater. A lake is a potentially habitable environment, and delta rocks are a great environment for entombing signs of ancient life as fossils in the geologic record. After thorough exploration, we\u2019ve pieced together the crater\u2019s geologic history, charting its lake and river phase from beginning to end.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Perseverance has been collecting rocks from the ancient lakebed and the attached delta for the past few years. It has been taking some onsite measurements and images of the rocks while also collecting specimens for a possible future return mission. This Mars Sample Return mission is still in the concept phase, embroiled with budget issues. But as of July 2025, Perseverance has already filled 33 tubes of the 38 samples it has available to store for a future pick-up mission.<\/p>\nPerseverance took this selfie showing the Cheyava Falls rock with its holes from sampling. Image via NASA\/ JPL-Caltech\/ MSSS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Sapphire Canyon is sample 25<\/h3>\n
The 25th sample Perseverance collected is Sapphire Canyon, drilled from Cheyava Falls in Neretva Vallis. The sample is notable for various reasons. For one, it\u2019s covered in small black spots that scientists call poppyseeds. But it also has larger spots, lighter in the center with dark borders, that scientists call leopard spots. Back in 2024 when NASA announced the discovery of the rock, it said Sapphire Canyon: <\/p>\n
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possesses qualities that fit the definition of a possible indicator of ancient life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Why is that? Well, first, Perseverance used its SHERLOC instrument to analyze the rock. It found organic compounds. Those are carbon-based molecules that are the building blocks of life on Earth. But it is not yet proof of life on Mars.<\/p>\n
Secondly, those spots could be a sign of chemical reactions due to microbial life. We\u2019ve seen similar markings on earthly rocks. And on Earth, those patterns are often associated with biology. They\u2019re the fossilized record of microbes living in the subsurface.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s new?<\/h3>\n
If you\u2019re a regular reader of EarthSky, this information doesn\u2019t sound new to you. So, what was the press conference for? Basically, today we learned there is a new study on these spots that has been peer-reviewed. And while the most likely answer to what created these spots is processes with a biological origin, life has not been confirmed on Mars. But NASA and scientists are excited about the results so far. The next step to confirm it would be to bring home a sample. Will NASA greenlight the Mars Sample Return mission? That remains to be seen.<\/p>\nView larger\/full image. | Closeup view of an image the Mars Perseverance rover captured of leopard spots<\/em> and poppy seeds<\/em> in the Cheyava Falls rock. Continued analysis of the rover data supports the possibility that their formation involved microorganisms. It makes a compelling \u2013 although still inconclusive \u2013 case for ancient life on Mars. Image via NASA\/ JPL-Caltech\/ MSSS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bottom line: NASA said at a press conference on September 10, 2025, that a Mars rock explored by the Perseverance rover is a potential biosignature. Markings on the rock might be a sign of ancient life.<\/p>\n
Via NASA press conference, September 10, 2025<\/p>\n
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Kelly Kizer Whitt<\/h4>\n
View Articles\n <\/p><\/div>\n
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About the Author:<\/h6>\n
Kelly Kizer Whitt – EarthSky\u2019s nature and travel vlogger on YouTube – writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She’s been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children’s picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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