The findings from Perseverance’s ground-penetrating radar confirm previous images from space and other data, leading scientists to believe that parts of Mars were once covered in water and may have contained microorganisms.
The six-wheeled, car-sized rover conducted underground surveys in 2022 as the rover made its way across the surface of Mars. The rover’s on-board radar instrument allowed scientists to study rock layers up to twenty meters deep.
These rock layers provided unambiguous evidence that the waterborne bottom sediments of the Jerezo Crater were deposited by the river. The results reinforce what previous studies have suggested: that cold, dry, lifeless Mars was once warm, wet, and perhaps habitable.
The research, led by teams from the University of Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Oslo, was published on Friday in the journal Science Advances.
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