What NASA found on Mars

This video from The Space Race explores what NASA is calling the clearest sign of life ever found on Mars. The Perseverance rover, exploring the ancient Jezero crater, has discovered a unique rock covered in dark patterns nicknamed "leopard spots". Scientists believe these spots are the fossilized waste products—or "micro poop"—of ancient Martian microbes. The evidence is compelling: the rock was found in a 3-billion-year-old sedimentary layer from an ancient lakebed, an ideal environment for preserving fossils. This rock also contains both organic matter (the building blocks of life) and specific iron-based minerals, vivianite and greigite. On Earth, these exact minerals are known to be byproducts of bacteria consuming dead organic matter.

The video explains why NASA is "cautiously optimistic", referencing past failed announcements of life on Mars. However, scientists have systematically ruled out other non-biological explanations, such as high-heat or acidic reactions, making microbial life the most likely theory by process of elimination.

While this discovery suggests life is not unique to Earth, the video concludes with a challenge: the samples must be returned to Earth for 100% confirmation. However, the crucial Mars Sample Return mission is currently unfunded by the US, even as China plans its own mission to the red planet.

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