National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Perseverance rover detects complex organic carbon in Martian rocks

Key facts

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Perseverance rover detected complex organic carbon compounds in mudstone samples from the Bright Angel area inside Jezero Crater on Mars.
• The detection was made using the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument, a laser-based spectrometer.
• The organic compounds identified are large, complex carbon-bearing molecules known as macromolecular carbon, considered building blocks of life on Earth.
• This is the first detection of macromolecular carbon on a natural rock surface in Jezero Crater and the second known detection in Martian mudstones outside Gale Crater.
• The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, do not prove ancient life as the compounds could have non-biological origins; the rover's mission is to collect samples for future Earth return.