Spectacular image from the surface of Mars - and scientists get a big surprise while searching for signs of ancient life
NASA's Perseverance rover captured a spectacular image from Mars's Jezero Crater, revealing a surprising discovery. Scientists expected to find sedimentary rock, which is good for preserving microbial life, but instead found igneous rock, indicating volcanic activity and multiple interactions with water in Mars's ancient past.
Why it matters
This discovery significantly alters our understanding of Mars's geological history and the conditions that might have supported ancient life. It guides future missions and research in the ongoing quest to determine if life ever existed beyond Earth.
This image of Mars shows what it might be like to stand on the Red Planet and look across into the distance.
But it also shows the site of a key discovery made by scientists analysing data gathered by NASA's Perseverance rover at the site of an ancient Martian lake.
Mars today is a dry, arid planet but there was a time in its ancient history when it was much warmer and wetter.
Finding and analysing evidence of ancient Martian rivers and lakes is enabling planetary scientists to piece together the history of water on Mars and whether the planet could ever have hosted life.
The story behind the image goes back to September 2023, when NASA’s Perseverance rover reached the inner edge of Mars’ Jezero Crater .
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