Search for ancient life intensifies as NASA targets Mars's oldest rocks

Key Information

• NASA is exploring the Krokodillen region on Mars.
• Perseverance is searching for signs of ancient life.
• The region may contain Mars's oldest rocks.

Mars has fascinated scientists looking for signs of life beyond Earth for many years. Rather than searching far into space, NASA is focusing on Mars, where the Perseverance rover is exploring a new area called "Krokodillen."

As noted by ladbible.com, "Krokodillen," which means "crocodile" in Norwegian, is an area of approximately 73 hectares, located near the Jezero Crater, where the rover landed in 2021. This region is particularly interesting due to the presence of the oldest rocks on Mars, which could provide insights into the planet's ancient conditions.

Preliminary studies suggest that clay may be present in Krokodillen, indicating the past presence of water. If these materials are confirmed, it could mean that Mars had conditions that allowed for the development and maintenance of life.

Ken Farley, deputy scientist for the Perseverance project at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, explained that any potential biosignature discovered in the current area would likely originate from a completely different and much earlier period in Mars's evolutionary history compared to the findings made last year in the crater near Cheyava Falls.

The Perseverance rover, which has been collecting and securing samples, is now altering its strategy. Due to the limited number of empty sample tubes, the NASA team has decided that the rover will collect samples without immediately securing them. This will allow for the exchange of less interesting samples for those that may provide more information.

Currently, the rover has only seven out of 38 sample tubes left, and the date of their return to Earth is still unknown. Katie Stack Morgan from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory emphasises that each collected sample has its unique story to tell.