March 9, 2025 (EIRNS)—NASA’s Perseverance Rover has been on Mars since 2021, and just recently tried a new technique in its mission to discover geological secrets of Mars’ past—it “smooshed” a rock, reported Daily Galaxy website.
The instrument used for this novel approach is its SHERLOC instrument (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals), which is a sophisticated instrument that uses cameras, spectrometers, and a laser to search for organic molecules and minerals that have interacted with water—potential clues to past microbial life.
The issue up to this point has been that in order to get accurate analysis of the geological structures, the sample must be secured by either abrasion or drilling to obtain a fresh rock sample. This is because the harsh environment on Mars—ultraviolet radiation and a very thin atmosphere—degrades the surface of the rock and any organic compounds that may have originally been on it.
