NASA Rover Finds Mars Rocks That May Signal Ancient Life

NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars stumbled upon rocks last year that scientists think may show signs that Mars once hosted microbial life.

In a new paper published in Nature, researchers offer explanations for a group of Martian rocks that Perseverance uncovered and sampled in July 2024. Located in an ancient river valley called Neretva Vallis, the rocks are mudstones with unique, textured spots that NASA called “intriguing” and have been nicknamed “poppy seeds” or “leopard spots.”