NASA is set to announce something the Perseverance rover has found on Mars. The space agency doesn’t call a lot of press conferences unless it has some big news. This is why its latest call is generating buzz that the rover scouting the Red Planet since 2021 has made a major discovery, possibly about the existence of life. NASA is careful not to make wrongful assertions about life on other cosmic bodies, and doesn’t make a lot of public announcements. But, it has called reporters to gather for an announcement on September 10 at 11 am ET. Space enthusiasts are almost sure that the space agency is going to inform the world about something huge. Perseverance has been searching for clues of life on Mars near the Jezero Crater. Scientists say a river flowed in this region billions of years ago.
NASA has been routinely studying Mars using its rovers, of which Perseverance and Curiosity continue to roam the red planet. The rovers have come across strange-looking rocks in the recent past. There was a rock with spherules on it, another with zebra lines and one that resembled a human face. Last year, Curiosity crushed a rock, revealing pure sulfur on Mars. Perseverance spotted white rocks strewn across its surface, creating intrigue about the red planet. NASA has revealed all these discoveries through press releases, but not to a melee of reporters.
What could NASA announce?
In July last year, the Perseverance rover found a piece of the rock in an area called Neretva Vallis, which is part of the Jezero Crater. It was named “Sapphire Canyon” and scientists are believed to have found biosignatures, signs of ancient microbial life, in this rock. Social media is abuzz with speculations that NASA could reveal more about this sample that came from a vein-filled rock named “Cheyava Falls.” At the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas, Joel Hurowitz presented a study that stated thatthe Perseverance rover had found unusual spots and seed-like shapes in ancient Martian rocks. The study noted that these “poppy seeds” and “leopard spots” could be signs of life. Reports suggest that Hurowitz will be present at the press conference and reveal more about the discovery made on Mars, possibly proof of ancient life that likely existed billions of years ago.