Potential biosignatures of Martian life.

The potential discovery of the century: a sample collected from Jezero Crater on Mars by the Perseverance rover hints at the possibility of ancient Martian life. 

Collected on July 21st, 2024, the sample collected from a rock dubbed “Cheyava Falls” was analyzed by Perseverance using several instruments in its onboard lab to analyze the minerals in the rocks. This data was then transmitted back to Earth for scientists to study, where it was remotely analyzed for over a year. This sample was subjected to so much study because it contains both vivianite and gregite, two chemical compounds found on Earth, which are produced by microbial life. This puzzled scientists, as there are no known methods for producing vivianite and gregite abiotically, meaning without life, on Mars. There would have to be chemicals involved that cannot be found on the surface of Mars under current conditions. This discovery was made public when it was published in the research journal Nature on September 10th, 2025.

While not a confirmation of any discovery of alien life, acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy stated, “This finding by Perseverance . . . is the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars. The identification of a potential biosignature on the Red Planet is a groundbreaking discovery, and one that will advance our understanding of Mars.”

However, even if these signatures were caused by life, don’t expect to find aliens currently on Mars. If these compounds were formed by living organisms, they would have formed approximately 3.5 billion years ago, when the environment would have been more likely to harbor life. Back then, Mars had liquid water oceans and a thick oxygenated atmosphere, not too dissimilar to the Earth of today. In the time since then, however, the atmosphere has dissipated and the oceans sublimated, leaving the planet a barren desert wasteland, devoid of any potential life. If life does currently exist on Mars, it will be in underground water reservoirs at the planet’s poles, rather than out on the surface.The only way to verify the origin of these biosignatures, and to determine if they were formed by life, is to return this special sample collected by Perseverance, designated “Sapphire Canyon,” to Earth. This is easier said than done, however, as Mars is currently 225 million miles away. The Mars Sample Return mission is currently in development; however, it is years away from launching, let alone returning the rocks to Earth. Until then, scientists will continue to analyze these findings, collect more samples, and broaden our understanding of the Red Planet. In the meantime, humanity must contend with the possibility that we may not be alone in the universe after all.