New Delhi: Images sent back by NASA’s Perseverance rover have unveiled the existence of a 3.7-billion-year-old ancient river delta that will now guide scientists in their search for evidence of ancient life. 

According to a study, this finding provides clues that will guide the search for evidence of ancient life. This study analysed high-resolution images captured by the rover of the cliffs that were once the banks of the delta. The images taken by the Perseverance rover revealed Jezero Crater’s watery past. 

The images were shared by NASA with the caption, “From space, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and other spacecraft gave us tantalizing hints about Jezero Crater’s watery past. Now that the @NASAPersevere rover is providing close-ups from the ground, scientists have encountered some geological surprises.”

From space, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and other spacecraft gave us tantalizing hints about Jezero Crater’s watery past. Now that the @NASAPersevere rover is providing close-ups from the ground, scientists have encountered some geological surprises: https://t.co/9tXmiFNsDS pic.twitter.com/ern4PqRkV6

— NASA Mars (@NASAMars) October 7, 2021

The study also said that the findings can help Perseverance achieve its scientific missions of finding signs of bygone life and collecting samples for future return to Earth. 

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The co-lead author on the paper Professor Sanjeev Gupta, of Imperial College London’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said, “These results have an impact on the strategy for the selection of rocks for sampling. The finest grained material at the bottom of the delta probably contains our best bet for finding evidence of organics and biosignatures, and the boulders at the top will enable us to sample old pieces of crustal rocks. Both are main objectives for sampling and caching rocks before the Mars Sample Return – a future mission to bring these samples back to Earth.”

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