According to NASA’s website, the robotic rover’s findings confirm scientists’ belief that parts of Mars were once covered with water and may have harbored microbial life.
Based on the recommendations of the mission team and scientists from around the world, who carefully examined more than 60 candidate sites on the Red Planet, NASA selected Jezero Crater, 49 kilometers in size and with its deltas, as Perseverance’s landing site.
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Jezero was selected after 5 years of extensive work.
Scientists have been saying for years that the area has long been filled with water and was home to an ancient river.
Perseverance’s data suggests that more than 3.5 billion years ago, river channels overflowed over the crater wall, forming a lake.
Scientists have discovered evidence that the water carried clay minerals from the surrounding area into the crater lake, suggesting that microbial life may have existed in Jezero during this period.
Scientists will study how the region formed and developed, collecting samples of Martian rock and soil to discover traces of past life.
Jezero Crater is 45 kilometers wide and lies west of a flat plain called “Isidis Planitia” north of the Martian equator.
