According to CNN, the geological sample was accidentally discovered on July 18 by NASA's autonomous robot Perseverance during a Mars exploration mission. This geological evidence was published on July 25 on NASA's official website.
Scientists believe that spots scattered on the ground may be the result of ancient chemical reactions with the impact of microorganisms. After observing through photos, they thought this had happened billions of years ago.
Researcher David Flannery - a member of NASA's Mars exploration project - was surprised by the discovery. He said that some areas on Earth also have similar spots and that area often contains fossils of bacteria living below the surface.
However, everything is still speculation and scientists will not be able to have a final conclusion for this until the samples are brought back to Earth for research. The members of the research team are all very excited and looking forward to bringing the samples back to Earth as soon as possible.
The discovery is part of NASA's Mars exploration mission launched in 2020. NASA has also previously said that there is life on the red planet when it discovered traces of water on the surface of rocks in 2022.
Since landing on Mars, the autonomous robot Perseverance has passed through many places such as the Jezero cape, an ancient river plain and north of Neretva Valis - where traces of water are located. The robot's journey has been pre-set by NASA's research and development team and it will automatically take photos and collect samples wherever it passes.
Due to a shortage of funding and technology that has not been developed enough, NASA has not been able to bring these samples to Earth at this time. NASA is expected to bring them back in the 2030s.
