NASA finalizes a landing site for the 2020 Mars mission

The stage is set for NASA’s Mars mission that is to be carried out in 2020. After years of research, debate, and verification, NASA has finally chosen a landing site on the red planet for its exploration mission scheduled two years later. The location is a place called the Jezero Crater and it was among more than 60 candidate sites that were shortlisted by the mission team. This particular location is known to be a geological treasure trove, with natural formations as old as 3.5 billion years or more.

In addition to searching signs of ancient life, even microbial life, the rover being launched will also collect soil and rock samples to store them in a safe place on Mars. This will set the stage for future missions for the safe retrieval of the samples and their extensive study back on earth. On the basis of topography, terrain and other geological characteristics, scientists have sufficient reason to speculate that the Jezero Crater and its surrounding region may have housed a river delta, in which case the probability of ancient microbial activity is considerably high. This mission can really shed light on the long-standing, pertinent question, ‘was there life on Mars?’

If scientists do find evidence for ancient life on our cosmic neighbor, they can perhaps better understand what happened to all the life on Mars and what led it to become the barren planet that it is today. In light of the current environmental crises on earth, knowing what may have happened to life on the red planet might improve our understanding of the future of life on our planet.