NASA will host a media teleconference at 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 10, to discuss the analysis of a rock sampled by the agency’s Perseverance Mars rover last year, which is the subject of a forthcoming science paper.
The sample, called “Sapphire Canyon,” was collected in July 2024 from a set of rocky outcrops on the edges of Neretva Vallis, a river valley carved by water rushing into Jezero Crater long ago.
There was a lot of excitement last year when Percy examined the unusual bedrock on the floor of the Neretva river channel. That material - mostly or entirely soft mud and silt laid down by the former river - had some interesting markings that the science team nicknamed “poppy seeds” (small dark markings in abrasion #25, on the south side of the channel - see here for a close-up) and, on the north side of the channel, “leopard spots” (the small dark spots with light-toned rims, between the coarse white mineral veins, in this image, from the site of abrasions #26 and #27).
It wasn’t long before the Principal Investigator himself, Ken Farley, was identifying this material (which we have obtained as sample #25) as “very important” - even using words like “potential biosignature” in a presentation at CalTech last year (I’ve linked to the relevant portion of the talk, but the entire 33 min video is worth watching). Since August 2024, there have been some small publications about this material, but it appears that we finally have more results and analysis on the docket. I could speculate on what the science team will be presenting, but I’d rather not steal their thunder, so I’ll just leave a link to my (still very rudimentary) guide for the portion of the mission, in and around the river channel, last year.
Several of the brass from NASA HQ, including Trump’s “temporary NASA administrator”, but also several actual senior NASA scientists, will be attending, so don’t miss this one if you’re interested!
There was a lot of excitement last year when Percy examined the unusual bedrock on the floor of the Neretva river channel. That material - mostly or entirely soft mud and silt laid down by the former river - had some interesting markings that the science team nicknamed “poppy seeds” (small dark markings in abrasion #25, on the south side of the channel - see here for a close-up) and, on the north side of the channel, “leopard spots” (the small dark spots with light-toned rims, between the coarse white mineral veins, in this image, from the site of abrasions #26 and #27).
It wasn’t long before the Principal Investigator himself, Ken Farley, was identifying this material (which we have obtained as sample #25) as “very important” - even using words like “potential biosignature” in a presentation at CalTech last year (I’ve linked to the relevant portion of the talk, but the entire 33 min video is worth watching). Since August 2024, there have been some small publications about this material, but it appears that we finally have more results and analysis on the docket. I could speculate on what the science team will be presenting, but I’d rather not steal their thunder, so I’ll just leave a link to my (still very rudimentary) guide for the portion of the mission, in and around the river channel, last year.
Several of the brass from NASA HQ, including Trump’s “temporary NASA administrator”, but also several actual senior NASA scientists, will be attending, so don’t miss this one if you’re interested!