The quartz crystals found by the Perseverance rover could be tremendously helpful. In fact, these crystals are excellent indicators that guide researchers on where to focus their efforts in the search for biological traces on the red planet.
For five years, NASA's Perseverance rover has been tirelessly exploring the ochre soil of our red neighbor. Its mission is to detect possible signs of life and reconstruct Mars' hydrological history. According to a paper published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Perseverance has discovered lightweight, porous rocks rich in silica, containing quartz, chalcedony, and opal.
The presence of these crystalline formations on Mars is thus irrefutable evidence that the planet had a complex and persistent hydrological activity in the past. If NASA teams can analyze these Martian crystals in more detail, they might finally hold tangible proof of past extraterrestrial life that scientists have been searching for decades.
