"NASA made a big splash today, announcing that its Mars Perseverance rover had spotted "potential biosignatures" last year while examining a rock covered in unusual spots. It was a compelling finding, to say the least, with scientists suggesting that "leopard spots" on a rock may have been left behind by microbial life metabolizing minerals inside the rock. If confirmed, it would be the first time life has ever been found beyond the Earth."
""This finding by Perseverance, launched under President Trump in his first term, is the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars," NASA's interim administrator Sean Duffy said in the lead quote of a statement about the finding. What Duffy - who has no scientific background or experience leading a government agency whatsoever - failed to point out is that original plans for the rover were first announced in late 2012, and that Perseverance was designed to build on NASA's Curiosity rover, which was developed and launched years before Trump took office."
Perseverance observed potential biosignatures on a rock with unusual "leopard spots", suggesting microbial metabolism of minerals and possibly the first evidence of life beyond Earth. NASA prominently credited President Trump with the Perseverance launch despite original rover plans and predecessors, including Curiosity, dating back years before his term. The agency invoked a commitment to "Gold Standard Science" and aspirations to put Americans on Mars. Proposed fiscal year 2026 budget cuts would halve NASA's science directorate, potentially cancel dozens of space and Earth science missions and jeopardize planned Martian surface investigations.
Read at Futurism
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