The “when” question in particular has driven researchers in Harvard’s Paleomagnetics Lab in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. A new paper in Nature Communications makes their most compelling case to date that Mars’ life-enabling magnetic field could have survived until about 3.9 billion years ago, compared with previous ...

Perseverance is a rover that explores Jezero Crater, a former lake bed on Mars, for signs of ancient or current life. It collects samples and returns them to Earth for detailed analysis with advanced instruments.

The rover is testing its instruments on rocks and dust in Jezero Crater, a former lake that could have hosted ancient microbes. Scientists are analyzing the data and planning to collect samples for future return to Earth.

The Perseverance rover will land on Mars in February 2021 and explore Jezero crater, a possible site of ancient life. Learn how scientists chose this location and what instruments they will use to search for biosignatures and collect samples.

Learn about NASA's missions to Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, and the only planet with robotic explorers. Find out how NASA studies the red planet's climate, geology, and potential for life.

Learn about NASA's mission to explore Mars with the Perseverance rover, which seeks signs of ancient life and collects samples for possible Earth return. Find out how to join the mission, follow the news and events, and access multimedia resources.

The web page explores the possibility of ancient or dormant life on Mars based on the evidence of water and sulfate salts. It suggests that chemoautotrophic bacteria like Desulfovibrio could have survived on Mars and could reawaken with climate change.

If life ever existed on Mars, we may already have the answer at hand. In January NASA’s Perseverance rover deposited 10 tubes on the surface of Mars. Each contains a sample of Martian rock...