How was the signs of life discovered on Mars? • DigiKala Meg

While searching for extraterrestrial life, especially on Mars, has always been one of the most important issues of human attention, this has become one of the planetary science centers in recent years, and now the endurance (perseverance) Mars mission has played a key role in this regard.

NASA’s young rover, while in the renewed phase of its mission, has found signs in Jezero Crater that may be survivors of ancient life in the Red Planet’s stones, but what exactly are these signs and how much do they exist on Mars?

The discovery of the valuable mars of endurance

Last year, the PersEVA Rover hit a stone that the scientific team named “Cheyava Falls”. A rock with small spots that have dark margins around them and are described as “leopard spots”. Researchers examined the details of the stone that it is a “mudstone” type or a type of grain sedimentary stone that has organic carbon and its millimeter nodes and reactive parts are enriched with minerals such as phosphate iron and sulfide iron.

Chiava Waterfall
Credit: NASA

These patterns indicate that after the deposition of materials in the stone, the oxide-decrease processes may be active. Such micrometric structures and mineral compounds with them are exactly what was very interesting to geologists and spatial biologists. Because on the ground, these patterns are sometimes associated with microbial activities or biology -related chemical processes.

The discovery was generally announced on September 10, 2025, when NASA officially published an article in Nature at a news conference, with an article in Nature, with the discovery of “potential biosignature” by the Mars of Endurance.

Scientific tools and related measurements

The perseverance rover is equipped with a set of advanced scientific tools for the identification and analysis of the Martianology, including Sherlock tools for identifying organic matter and studying rock tissue, Pixl to determine the chemical composition of high-resolution and “drunken” and “drunken”. These tools allow organic compounds, mineral phases and micro tissues.

Sherlock Tools and Mars Stone Examination
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH

Especially in the Chiava Falaz sample, two Sherlock and Pixel tools played a prominent role. Initially, it was a drunken-a-tail-to-record stains in detail to select the exact points studied for other tools. Sherlock then revealed the presence of phosphate, carbonate and signs of “Organic Molecles”, which are often found in environmental environments. Pixel also showed the accurate distribution of elements such as iron, phosphorus and silicates. The presence of such elements along with microscopic tissues strengthened the possibility of water and biological processes.

Chemical and mineral evidence

According to the research team, the presence of minerals and compounds such as phosphates and organic matter sometimes found alongside microbial activities, as well as tissues that indicate water interaction in the past have been confirmed. Some reports also refer to the presence of compounds that are sometimes formed with microbial activities.

Near -Stone facade with leopard spots on Mars
Credit: NASA/ JPL-CALTECH/ MSSS

However, both scientific reporters and researchers have emphasized that these compounds can form in the same way, and so the current evidence, although the “probability” reinforces the existence of ancient life, is not a definite proof.

Importance of the findings

Although current evidence is not 100 % definitive for life, it is important to discover such compounds and tissues in a context such as a penalties in which there was billions of years ago.

A graphic design from the ancient lake and river on Mars
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH

The presence of sufficient liquid water as well as chemical energy sources are two important preconditions for the emergence of microbial life; So finding stones that meet both conditions is the point of relying on researchers to design the “Mars residential in the past.” The discoveries of this type also show how necessary the Mars Sample Return program is necessary. Because many of the key tests to determine the true existence of biological indicators can only be performed in laboratories on earth.

Scientific limitations

As mentioned, the statements of scientific teams and reputable reports explicitly emphasize that there are several non -cultural explanations for observations made by the Mars of Endurance. These non -life explanations include chemical reactions independent of life, thermal changes, or long -standing processes of mineral crystallization that can produce similar patterns.

Sample collected by Mars Endurance to Return to Earth
Credit: ESA

In addition, the analysis by scientific tools on the rover, despite being very powerful, still have limitations compared to laboratory methods on Earth. In particular, measurements are often based on surface spectroscopy and microscopic images and cannot easily replace comprehensive chemistry tests in laboratory control conditions. Therefore, today’s science recommends that the samples be returned to the ground before the final discovery is announced and then examined with more accurate techniques.

Next step: sample return and confirmation on land

It can be said that the prerequisite for the conversion of the “possible evidence” is to discover ancient life on Mars into its “definitive proof”, the return of samples to Earth. The sample recovery plan, which is in collaboration with NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) in the planning phase, will bring endurance collected samples to submit precise molecular and microscopic experiments with more advanced technologies in specialized laboratories.

Exemplary Return Mission from Mars
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH

This process can reveal more sophisticated organic evidence, molecular sequences, or clearly biological symptoms, or, on the other hand, show that all current symptoms can also be explanatory. The importance of this step, in addition to the scientific perspective, is also morally high, as the results of such experiments will have extensive consequences for understanding the origin of life in the universe.

Scientific and philosophical consequences

Even if the evidence does not eventually move towards the existence of ancient life on the Red Planet, finding environments and materials that could support life conditions will deepen our knowledge of the history of stone planets. But if in the end, strong biological evidence is confirmed, it will not only be a great scientific discovery, but will also transform the foundation of many philosophical and practical questions about the location of the universe and the future of spatial discoveries.

Final speech

Finally, recent reports of endurance circulatory excavations at the opening and identification of Chiava Falz with the signs of life are a turning point in the search for life on Mars. Evidences that reinforce the possibility of life in the past, but have not yet reached a definitive proof.

These symptoms are very exciting, but they still have to look at them with more scientific patience and methods and seek them. The echo of this possible discovery in the coming years will be very contemporary in both sampling and long -term planning of human -depth explorations.

Sources: NASA Science, Space, Planetary Society, Reuters