Mars rocks reveal organic carbon, sharpening hunt for ancient life in Jezero

NASA's Perseverance rover detected hundreds of organic detections and macromolecular carbon in two mudstones from Jezero Crater's Bright Angel formation, the strongest organic evidence yet from that site. The carbon's origin—biological or abiotic—remains unclear and will require Earth-based analysis of samples Perseverance is collecting for eventual return under NASA's Mars Sample Return program, with a possible window from 2035 to 2039. This finding builds on earlier Curiosity results, suggesting ancient Mars had the chemistry to support life.