Mars: Ancient lifeforms, or funky rocks?

On Nov. 9, 2022, a NASA rover spotted some interesting markings of the rocks in the Yori Pass of the Jezero Crater on Mars. It is  believed that the Jezero Crater was home to a lake-like pool fitted with all the molecules needed for life. The rover known as Percy aims to collect rock samples to be sure of the discovery. After some digging and excavation, NASA scientists noticed some different coloring in a two-inch diameter sandstone abrasion. The NASA Perserverance team tweeted on Nov. 17 about the possibility of microbial life. The team hopes that the discovery will unmask more of Mars’s past. On another note, a different sample was sent in with organic signatures, but scientists say that it is too early to determine if it is microbial life from the past.

     Yori Pass is intriguing because it is one of the few ancient river deltas that has a sandstone base, and if paleontology has taught us something, (other than the fact that evolution and several other things are real) it’s that sandstone is the typical rock where fossils are found, meaning the possibility of ancient Martian life. The mission of finding Astro biological signatures started in Sept. of 2021.