Perseverance rover finds hardy organic matter on mars, scientists report

Washington: An international team of researchers has detected complex organic carbon on Mars, marking the most robust detection of organic material in Jezero Crater to date, according to a new study published in Science Advances.

Using NASA’s Perseverance rover, the team recorded a distribution of complex organic carbon within an ancient river valley on the red planet’s Jezero Crater. The findings add new weight to the question of whether Mars once hosted conditions suitable for life.

The detection was made with the rover’s SHERLOC instrument, which found a complex and hardy form of organic matter called macromolecular carbon within fine-grained mudstones. Researchers say this is significant because it represents the first time such a material has been found directly on a natural rock surface on Mars.

Macromolecular carbon is a durable, complex type of organic matter. Its presence in mudstones — rocks that form in calm water environments — suggests the organics were either deposited there by ancient water or formed in place billions of years ago when Jezero held a lake.

The study does not claim the carbon is evidence of past life. Organic molecules can form through non-biological processes, and researchers say more work is needed to determine the origin of the material. Still, the discovery strengthens the case for Jezero Crater as a key site for astrobiology.

Perseverance has been exploring Jezero Crater since 2021, collecting rock cores and analyzing the geology of a region thought to be a former river delta. Samples containing organic material are being cached for a future Mars Sample Return mission, which would allow more detailed lab analysis on Earth.

The new findings build on earlier, less conclusive detections of organic compounds by the Curiosity rover and by Perseverance itself. Finding complex organics preserved in rock on the Martian surface gives scientists a clearer target in the search for signs of ancient life.