The
study showed the existence of distinct deposits of minerals called
carbonates along the inner rim of Jezero Crater, the site of a lake more
than 3.5 billion years ago.
WASHINGTON,
Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- NASA scientists have discovered a potential place
for its Mars 2020 rover to look for signs of ancient life in Jezero
Crater where the rover will land in February of 2021.
The
study published Tuesday in the journal Icarus showed the existence of
distinct deposits of minerals called carbonates along the inner rim of
the crater, the site of a lake more than 3.5 billion years ago.
The
hardy structures of carbonates can survive in fossil form for billions
of years on Earth. Those fossils include seashells, coral and some
stromatolites, which are rocks formed by ancient microbial life along
ancient shorelines.
Scientists
identified Jezero's shoreline as a prime scientific hunting ground
since the stromatolite-like structures may exist there.
NASA's Curiosity rover had already found that parts of Mars could have supported microbial life billions of years ago.
It
identified the seasonal changes of the oxygen and methane directly
above the surface of Gale Crater on Mars, showing tantalizing signs of
possible biological activity on Mars. However, the Curiosity rover is
unable to analyze what causes the changes.
Mars
2020 is NASA's next-generation mission to study life throughout the
universe. It will search for actual signs of past microbial life, taking
rock core samples that will be deposited in metal tubes on the Martian
surface.
Also,
carbonates can reveal more about how Mars transitioned from having
liquid water and a thicker atmosphere to being the freezing desert it is
today.
The
Mars 2020 rover will launch in July or August 2020. It is part of a
larger program that includes missions to the moon as a way to prepare
for human exploration of the Red Planet. ■
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