Geologist Michael Tice had never lost sleep over a #Mars rock before

Geologist Michael Tice had never lost sleep over a #Mars rock before.

That changed as he dug into data from the red planet’s Bright Angel rock formation, located in an ancient river valley called Neretva Vallis.

This rock formation contains the most compelling evidence to date for possible ancient #life on Mars.

The rocks of Bright Angel raise the possibility that microbes thrived in the mud underwater some 3.5 billion years ago.

Bright Angel’s rocks, on the western edge of Jezero Crater, were likely deposited at the bottom of a lake or river when water flowed freely on a planet that is now dry.

Chemical clues in a rock suggest that a specific type of reaction occurred that, on Earth, typically involves microbial life.

#astrobiology
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/mars-rock-alien-life-microbes-chemistry