In the almost four years that NASA’s Perseverance Rover has been on Mars, is has made some fascinating discoveries.

From telling us about our neighboring planet’s unique geography – including its many craters and deltas – it has also found evidence that water was once present on Mars’s surface, as well as finding igneous rocks that indicate ancient volcanic activity.

But perhaps the most aesthetically fascinating discovery is its most recent.

In its exploration of Mars, Perseverance has been tasked with analysing rock, using a specific type of drill that allows the mysteries of Mars’s geology to be exposed.

And recently, at a location known as Serpentine Rapids, Perseverance uncovered something unprecedented.

Its recent sampling revealed red rocks with green spots, as NASA revealed in a recent article.

Why is the pattern on these rocks so interesting?

Because it tells us even more about the elemental composition of Mars’s surface.

As the NASA article explains, the green spots in the red rock are significant, as they could provide further indication that life was once present on Mars. At a time when water flowed on the red planet’s surface, it is possible that organisms walked (or at leased moved) over its surface too:

“On Earth, red rocks generally get their color from oxidized iron, which is the same form of iron that makes our blood red, or the rusty red color of metal left outside. Green spots are common in ancient “red beds” on Earth and form when liquid water percolates through the sediment before it hardens to rock, kicking off a chemical reaction that transforms oxidized iron to its reduced form, resulting in a greenish hue.

On Earth, microbes are sometimes involved in this iron reduction reaction. However, green spots can also result from decaying organic matter that creates localized reducing conditions. Interactions between sulfur and iron can also create iron-reducing conditions without the involvement of microbial life.”

So not only has Perseverance found evidence that could indicate this reduced form of oxidised iron, it has also given hope to scientists that life was once possible on our neighboring planet.

Since Mars sits just inside the Goldilocks Zone (a term for the parameters and specific conditions required for life to exist on a planet), it is not outside of the realms of possibility that the planet once hosted life – even if that life was simply tiny microbes.

It is also not entirely impossible that the planet might host life in the future.

So the possible existence of not only water for the percolation but also microbes that could have caused the iron reduction, has scientists worldwide on the edge of their seats.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are wondering: what will Perseverance discover next?

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