NASA’s Perseverance rover, with help from QUT scientists, has uncovered layered evidence of ancient water activity beneath the Martian surface, using a groundbreaking crystal-mapping technique.
This new approach reveals not one, but two separate mineral-forming events, hinting at multiple potentially life-supporting environments in Mars’ deep past. The discovery, made in the Shenandoah formation, strengthens the case for ancient habitability — and boosts Australia’s growing role in space exploration.
A research team led by Queensland University of Technology has uncovered strong evidence of multiple mineral-forming events just beneath the surface of Mars, using data from NASA’s Perseverance rover. The discovery brings scientists a step closer to answering one of the biggest questions in planetary science: did life ever exist on Mars?
The team, headed by Dr. Michael Jones from QUT’s Central Analytical Research Facility and the School of Chemistry and Physics, includes Associate Professors David Flannery and Christoph Schrank, along with Brendan Orenstein, Peter Nemere, and collaborators from North America and Europe.
Their findings were published on April 16 in the journal Science Advances.
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