NASA Perseverance rover finds complex carbon on Mars

NASA’s Perseverance rover has detected macromolecular carbon – a complex form of organic carbon – in two mudstone samples from the Bright Angel formation in Jezero crater. The analysis, performed with the rover’s SHERLOC Raman spectrometer and the WATSON camera, represents the most robust organic detection on the Red Planet to date and was published in Science Advances.

The carbon was found in the same rocks where Perseverance previously reported possible biosignature patterns, reinforcing the hypothesis that ancient Mars may have been habitable. Researchers caution that the carbon could have originated from non‑biological processes such as meteorite impacts, hydrothermal activity, or volcanic chemistry, and that definitive proof of past life will require the return of samples to Earth. The discovery arrives as the Mars Sample Return mission faces budgetary and political uncertainties, highlighting the urgency of securing the collected specimens.

Scientists note that similar organic detections have been made by the Curiosity rover at Gale crater, suggesting that organic compounds were widespread across ancient Martian environments.