The Perseverance rover landed on the planet just 10 months ago, but it has already made that surprising discovery.
The rover’s latest finding suggests that the bedrock it has been driving over since landing was once formed by volcanic lava flows — something that was “completely unexpected,” according to mission scientists. Previously, they thought the layered rocks Perseverance took photos of were sedimentary.
The rocks that Perseverance has sampled so far also revealed that they interacted with water multiple times, and some of them include organic molecules.
These discoveries could help scientists create an accurate timeline for the events that have taken place in Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient lake, and has wider implications for understanding Mars.
The finding was announced Wednesday during the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans.
For years, scientists…
