Big announcement from NASA: "Strongest sign of life on Mars"

NASA officials announced today (September 10th) that they would announce a new finding related to an unusual sample collected by the Perseverance rover on Mars . The announcement has revived the long-standing question of whether life exists on Mars . A series of claims circulating on social media and in the press suggested that the space agency would announce a sign of life. The press conference, broadcast live on NASA's website, began at 6:00 PM Turkish time. The team also shared visuals during the broadcast.

"This may be the clearest sign of life we've ever found on Mars," Sean Duffy, the space agency's acting administrator, said at the press conference.

WHAT DID NASA FIND?

Last year, while examining an ancient lake bed in Jezero Crater on Mars called “Bright Angel,” Perseverance discovered a rock with unusual markings resembling “leopard spots” and “poppy seeds.” On Earth, these markings are generally considered predictors of microscopic organisms’ activity years ago. The leopard spots, consisting of millimeter-sized dark circles and smaller dark dots of poppy seeds, were found in a rock called “Cheyava Falls.” These markings are sandwiched between layers of calcium sulfate, a mineral that usually forms in the presence of water, a necessary condition for life. Today, NASA announced new findings. These findings come from a rock sample from Cheyava Falls dubbed “Sapphire Canyon,” and another sample dubbed “Masonic Temple.”

WHAT DO THE EXAMPLES SAY?

In the Sapphire Canyon rock and another specimen called the "Masonic Temple," greenish spots of iron phosphate and iron sulfide minerals that have been chemically reduced (a half-reaction in which a chemical species typically gains electrons, reducing its oxidation number) were found within clay-rich rocks, NASA said. On Earth, both leopard spots and poppy seeds are associated with microbial life because the reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions such organisms use to produce energy leave deposits of iron and sulfur in their reduced, electron-gaining forms.

Millimeter-sized leopard spots are composed of tiny bubbles surrounded by black rings. Analysis by Perseverance's instruments reveals that these rings contain iron and phosphate. On Earth, such substances are typically the product of chemical processes driven by microbes.

“These spots are a big surprise,” David Flannery, an astrobiologist at Queensland University of Technology and Perseverance science team member, told Space.

“On Earth, such features in rocks are often associated with fossilized traces of microbial life underground.”

IS THE EXISTENCE OF LIFE CERTAIN? However, these findings do not constitute definitive proof of microbial life on Mars.

The markings at Cheyava Falls could have been created either by microbes or by other, unrelated reactions occurring at very high temperatures.

But analysis by Perseverance's instruments revealed that these traces actually contain reduced minerals, making the first explanation more likely.

"They showed evidence of chemical cycling that organisms on Earth use to produce energy," Texas A&M University astrobiologist Dr. Michael Tice said at the meeting.

"As we looked even closer, we saw things that are easy to explain by early life on Mars, but very difficult to explain by geological processes alone."

However, researchers have not definitively proven that life exists on Mars.

“ONE OF THE STRONGEST SIGNS OF THE EXISTENCE OF LIFE ON MARS”

Joel Hurowitz, lead author of the new research paper announced by NASA on Wednesday and published in the journal Nature, said these eagerly anticipated findings are "one of the strongest indications yet for the existence of life on Mars."

Speaking to the Washington Post, Hurowitz described these rocks as “the most exciting astrobiological samples” since Perseverance landed on Mars in 2021.

"This sample contains a signature that could be of biological origin, a potential biomarker. We cannot say that for the other samples we have collected."

THE IMPORTANCE OF SAPPHIRE CANYON: “THE ONLY PLACE WHERE EVIDENCE HAS BEEN FOUND” NASA’s official press release offered curiously limited information about the discovery. The statement stated that the sample in question was collected from Jezero Crater in July 2024. Perseverance has been studying this region of Mars since February 2021. NASA believes Jezero Crater may have once hosted life. Contrary to its name, Sapphire Canyon is not a landform, but a single rock sample collected by Perseverance on Mars. NASA assigns unique names to each sample. This sample is thought to come from an ancient river valley called the Neretva Vallis, which was shaped long ago by waters flowing into Jezero Crater. NASA had previously reported that Sapphire Canyon was excavated from another veined rock called the Cheyava Falls. Cheyava Falls is notable for its poppyseed-like spots and leopard print on its surface. But most importantly, it's the only site on Mars where evidence of chemical reactions and organic molecules potentially related to life has been found, according to NASA.

WILL THE SAMPLES COME TO THE WORLD?

The analysis of Cheyava Falls and other new samples on the Martian surface has reached its limits. These samples must now be returned to Earth for further analysis. Sapphire Canyon is the 25th sample collected by Perseverance. NASA plans to return these samples to Earth one day. However, the Mars Sample Return Program (MSR) remains uncertain due to budget constraints, complex launch schedules, and shifting political priorities.

Under President Donald Trump's Fiscal Year 2026 budget plan, the program was criticized for being "vastly over budget." He also called for a 47% reduction in the agency's science budget. Currently, Perseverance can analyze samples it collects on Mars itself and only transmit its findings to researchers on Earth. The rover cannot directly detect life. Instead, it uses a drill to drill into rocks and tubes to collect samples from sites thought to be most habitable billions of years ago.

A HUGE CREW IN FRONT OF THE PRESS Last year, the Curiosity rover also revealed pure sulfur on Mars by breaking apart a rock. Perseverance also piqued curiosity by detecting white rocks scattered across its surface. NASA had previously announced all of these discoveries in press releases. This time, the spacecraft's large press conference in front of reporters further fueled the curiosity. Space enthusiasts have long believed that the "Sapphire Canyon" rock contained biosignatures, signs of microbial life that once existed on the planet. Among those attending the press conference were NASA's Acting Administrator Sean Duffy, Nicky Fox, Director of the Science Mission Directorate, and Lindsay Hays, a senior scientist involved in Mars projects.