NASA’s Perseverance rover just uncovered something amazing on Mars. Scientists from University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Oslo found that Perseverance, NASA’s rover, discovered evidence of ancient lakes on Mars.
The rover, like a space detective with a special radar, gathered data showing that Mars had lakes a long time ago. This matches what we saw in pictures from space, hinting that a big part of Mars, called Jezero Crater, used to be filled with water. Scientists think maybe there were even tiny life forms there.
The study, shared in the latest issue of the Science Advances magazine, used pictures Perseverance took while checking out Mars in 2022. The rover moved around from the Jezero Crater floor to a spot that looked like Earth’s river deltas. With its cool RIMFAX radar, Perseverance looked under the surface and found pictures of rocks going down 65 feet (20 meters).
These rock layers are proof that dirt carried by water was left in Jezero Crater and its delta by a river. This finding says Mars was once not chilly and dry but warm, wet and possibly a spot where life could have lived.
According to UCLA planetary scientist David Paige, it is like looking at a road cut. This latest finding helps scientists learn more about the history of Mars as well as simultaneously makes us wonder if there might have been life on the planet a long time ago.
Perseverance is like a space explorer, still looking around and discovering more secrets about Mars.
