A rock resembling the logo from Star Trek was discovered by NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars. NASA's long-running Curiosity captured the image of a Mars rock that looks similar to the iconic delta-shaped Starfleet emblem that officers wear on their uniforms in the sci-fi series.

A rock resembling the logo from Star Trek was discovered by NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars. NASA's long-running Curiosity captured the image of a Mars rock that looks similar to the iconic delta-shaped Starfleet emblem that officers wear on their uniforms in the sci-fi series. While it is illogical to say that a Starfleet landing party walked near Curiosity's roving grounds, Star Trek fans are thrilled to see the symbol on the Red Planet's surface. An amateur astronomer, Stuart Atkinson, spotted the Star Trek symbol and joked about it on X. He wrote, "I bet the Star Trek fans on the @MarsCuriosity team smiled like Cheshire Cats when they saw this new image appear on their screens." To this, an X user replied, "This must be their head office in mars.." ALSO READ | Rhesus monkey cloned using new technique different from what was used for Dolly the sheep NASA's Curiosity rover has been on Mars since 2012 and continues to capture and investigate the life there. Currently, it is climbing a mountain nicknamed Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons) as part of a mission to analyse the layers entrenched in it to know how water flowed on Mars several years ago. In September 2023, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory officials said, "Different layers of Mount Sharp represent different eras of Martian history. As Curiosity ascends, scientists learn more about how the landscape changed over time." The statement added that the rover was in a sulphate-packed zone, which might be "the highest elevation layer it will ever visit." ALSO READ | Chinese startup develops coin-sized nuclear battery that can last up to ‘50 years without charging’ According to the mission's blog, the rover captured the image of the Starfleet symbol when it was about to do "contact science on a flat block of dark-toned bedrock." The blog stated that one of its goals is to study the "composition and texture of the dark bands we've been observing from orbit" using various instruments. After the Curiosity rover's success at the Gale Crater, NASA sent a follow-up rover mission, named Perseverance, to the Jezero Crater on Mars in 2020. Perseverance aims to hunt for evidence of ancient life on the Red Planet. NASA also aims to launch another mission to bring the caches of rocks collected by Perseverance. However, funding and technology have pushed the expected return date to 2031. (With inputs from agencies)

Mars rock resembling iconic Star Trek symbol snapped by NASA’s Curiosity rover

NASA's Perseverance rover's new findings have suggested that organic molecules, which are considered as a potential indicator of life, are present in great volume and diversity in the rocks at a locale on Mars, where there was the existence of a lake long ago. 
 
The latest evidence was collected using an instrument called SHERLOC which is mounted on the robotic arm of the six-wheeled rover that enables to carry out the analysis of organic molecules and detailed mapping. Researchers have been reporting about the findings of SHERLOC from 10 places on two geological formations on the Jezero crater's floor. 
 
The researchers collected evidence which indicated organic molecules' presence in multiple rock samples, including a few collected which are likely to return to Earth for future analysis. The researchers stated that the discovery of evidence of such organic molecules does not prove about the existence of life in the past or present on Mars, and added that non-biological processes appear as a more likely explanation.

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/a-hint-of-life-in-universe-nasa-makes-breakthrough-discovery-of-carbon-molecule-in-space-608984">A hint of life in universe? NASA makes breakthrough discovery of carbon molecule in space</a>

"Organics are the molecular building blocks of life as we know it, but can also be formed from geological processes not directly related to life. We see multiple signals that appear to vary across the formations of the crater floor and in the minerals they are associated with," stated astrobiologist Sunanda Sharma of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, who was also the research's lead author which was published this week in the journal Nature. 
 
Perseverance landed on the Martian surface at Jezero Crater in February 2021 with a mission to look for evidence of ancient life on Mars and collect samples of soil and rock which can be brought back to the Earth. Jezero Crater is an area located in the northern hemisphere of the planet which was once flooded with water and was home to an ancient lake basin.

<h2>Is Mars a hospitable place?</h2>

Mars was not always as inhospitable as it is today, as liquid water was once present on its surface years ago. Scientists have hinted at the existence of microbial life in the Jezero Crater. They claim that river channels spilt over the crater wall and a lake was created more than 3.5 billion years ago. 
 
The researchers were able to detect signals of organic molecules at all 10 places that were studied by SHERLOC (short for Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) on the crater floor. The rocks were created igneous – volcanically.

WATCH |&nbsp;Why is NASA eyeing lunar mining trials within the next decade?

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Study co-author Ryan Roppel, who is a graduate student in chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, said that the chemical signatures can come from compounds like naphthalene or benzene. 
 
"On Earth, these are quite common in crude oil, which has a biotic origin, but we can also form these synthetically through various chemical reactions," said Roppel. 
 
"The concentrations we've detected are generally low, but we've observed signals associated with organics on nearly every rock we've sampled," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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NASA's Perseverance rover's new findings have suggested that organic molecules, which are considered as a potential indicator of life, are present in great volume and diversity in the rocks at a locale on Mars, where there was the existence of a lake long ago.

NASA's Perseverance rover's new findings have suggested that organic molecules, which are considered as a potential indicator of life, are present in great volume and diversity in the rocks at a locale on Mars, where there was the existence of a lake long ago. The latest evidence was collected using an instrument called SHERLOC which is mounted on the robotic arm of the six-wheeled rover that enables to carry out the analysis of organic molecules and detailed mapping. Researchers have been reporting about the findings of SHERLOC from 10 places on two geological formations on the Jezero crater's floor. The researchers collected evidence which indicated organic molecules' presence in multiple rock samples, including a few collected which are likely to return to Earth for future analysis. The researchers stated that the discovery of evidence of such organic molecules does not prove about the existence of life in the past or present on Mars, and added that non-biological processes appear as a more likely explanation. ALSO READ | A hint of life in universe? NASA makes breakthrough discovery of carbon molecule in space "Organics are the molecular building blocks of life as we know it, but can also be formed from geological processes not directly related to life. We see multiple signals that appear to vary across the formations of the crater floor and in the minerals they are associated with," stated astrobiologist Sunanda Sharma of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, who was also the research's lead author which was published this week in the journal Nature. Perseverance landed on the Martian surface at Jezero Crater in February 2021 with a mission to look for evidence of ancient life on Mars and collect samples of soil and rock which can be brought back to the Earth. Jezero Crater is an area located in the northern hemisphere of the planet which was once flooded with water and was home to an ancient lake basin. Is Mars a hospitable place? Mars was not always as inhospitable as it is today, as liquid water was once present on its surface years ago. Scientists have hinted at the existence of microbial life in the Jezero Crater. They claim that river channels spilt over the crater wall and a lake was created more than 3.5 billion years ago. The researchers were able to detect signals of organic molecules at all 10 places that were studied by SHERLOC (short for Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) on the crater floor. The rocks were created igneous – volcanically. WATCH | Why is NASA eyeing lunar mining trials within the next decade? Study co-author Ryan Roppel, who is a graduate student in chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, said that the chemical signatures can come from compounds like naphthalene or benzene. "On Earth, these are quite common in crude oil, which has a biotic origin, but we can also form these synthetically through various chemical reactions," said Roppel. "The concentrations we've detected are generally low, but we've observed signals associated with organics on nearly every rock we've sampled," he added. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

NASA rover discovers new evidence of organic molecules on Mars

NASA's &nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/as-eyes-set-on-nasas-perseverance-world-races-to-find-mars-mysteries-364447">Perseverance</a> rover landed on Mars after successfully encountering &nbsp;"seven minutes of terror" while touching down on the red planet.

Watch:

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The rover landed at 2055 GMT becoming only the fifth ever to set its wheels down on <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/seven-minutes-of-terror-nasa-perseverance-rovers-landing-on-mars-explained-363582">Mars</a>. The rover which is the size of an SUV weighs a ton and is armed with a robotic arm and 19 cameras and two microphones.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Where am I now? Check out this interactive map to zoom in and explore my landing site:<a href="https://t.co/uPsKFhW17J">https://t.co/uPsKFhW17J</a> 
 
And for the ground level view, my first images are here, with many more to come in the days ahead:<a href="https://t.co/Ex1QDo3eC2">https://t.co/Ex1QDo3eC2</a> <a href="https://t.co/B6TJTikAyX">pic.twitter.com/B6TJTikAyX</a>
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1362576976515457026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Perseverance will undertake its mission to search for clues of life on Mars which may have existed there billions of years ago.&nbsp;

Luther Beegle, deputy manager of the science division at NASA said: "Landing on Mars is hard. Landing on any planet is hard. Now that we've done it again, we might get to the point where we think it's routine but it's not. It's a very difficult process and now we get to go to work. The science team gets to go to work."&nbsp;

"The engineering team gets to drive the rover across Mars and really see what we can do with it. This is the most complex thing we've ever landed, and it's just going to be a lot of fun over the next few years," Beegle added.

Steve Jurczyk, acting administrator of NASA said: "maybe by mid-to-end of the 2030s we can start pushing out of the Earth-Moon system and land astronauts on Mars."

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Thank you, Mr. President. My team persevered through incredible adversity to get me here, and now I’m ready to get to work. <a href="https://t.co/L5siszeb4i">https://t.co/L5siszeb4i</a>
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1362574147000307714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2021</a></blockquote>
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US President Joe Biden also hailed the historic landing. Biden congratulated NASA and said that the event has proved once again that with the power of science and American ingenuity, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility.

NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars after successfully encountering "seven minutes of terror" while touching down on the red planet. Watch: The rover landed at 2055 GMT becoming only the fifth ever to set its wheels down on Mars.

NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars after successfully encountering "seven minutes of terror" while touching down on the red planet. Watch: The rover landed at 2055 GMT becoming only the fifth ever to set its wheels down on Mars. The rover which is the size of an SUV weighs a ton and is armed with a robotic arm and 19 cameras and two microphones. Where am I now? Check out this interactive map to zoom in and explore my landing site:https://t.co/uPsKFhW17J And for the ground level view, my first images are here, with many more to come in the days ahead:https://t.co/Ex1QDo3eC2 pic.twitter.com/B6TJTikAyX — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 19, 2021 × Perseverance will undertake its mission to search for clues of life on Mars which may have existed there billions of years ago. Luther Beegle, deputy manager of the science division at NASA said: "Landing on Mars is hard. Landing on any planet is hard. Now that we've done it again, we might get to the point where we think it's routine but it's not. It's a very difficult process and now we get to go to work. The science team gets to go to work." "The engineering team gets to drive the rover across Mars and really see what we can do with it. This is the most complex thing we've ever landed, and it's just going to be a lot of fun over the next few years," Beegle added. Steve Jurczyk, acting administrator of NASA said: "maybe by mid-to-end of the 2030s we can start pushing out of the Earth-Moon system and land astronauts on Mars." Thank you, Mr. President. My team persevered through incredible adversity to get me here, and now I’m ready to get to work. https://t.co/L5siszeb4i — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 19, 2021 × US President Joe Biden also hailed the historic landing. Biden congratulated NASA and said that the event has proved once again that with the power of science and American ingenuity, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility.

'Touchdown confirmed': NASA's Perseverance rover lands on Mars

How NASA's Ingenuity helicopter will help Perseverance rover in Mars

NASA has delayed the launch of its newest Mars rover yet again. The liftoff from Cape Canaveral has now been shifted to the end of July at the earliest.

If the Perseverance rover isn't on its way by mid-August, it will have to wait until 2022 when Earth and Mars are back in proper alignment, costing NASA close to $500 million for the delay alone.

NASA is trying to eke out more time in this summer's launch opportunity, now lasting until at least August 15.

The chance to fly to Mars comes up only every 26 months.&nbsp;

It is NASA's most ambitious Mars mission yet, totalling around $ 3 billion. Besides seeking signs of past microscopic Martian life, Perseverance will gather rocks and soil for eventual return to Earth.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasa-postpones-mars-rover-perseverance-launch-to-july-20-305395">Also read |&nbsp;NASA postpones Mars rover Perseverance launch to July 20</a>

Rocket maker United Launch Alliance needs extra time to deal with a liquid oxygen sensor line that showed questionable readings during a recent practice countdown, officials said Tuesday.

China, meanwhile, still is pressing ahead with launches this month of Mars spacecraft.&nbsp; 
Russia and the European Space Agency had to bow out, delaying their Mars rover until 2022 because of delayed spacecraft testing and travel limitations due to the coronavirus pandemic.

NASA has delayed the launch of its newest Mars rover yet again. The liftoff from Cape Canaveral has now been shifted to the end of July at the earliest. If the Perseverance rover isn't on its way by mid-August, it will have to wait until 2022 when Earth and Mars are back in proper alignment, costing NASA close to $500 million for the delay alone.

NASA has delayed the launch of its newest Mars rover yet again. The liftoff from Cape Canaveral has now been shifted to the end of July at the earliest. If the Perseverance rover isn't on its way by mid-August, it will have to wait until 2022 when Earth and Mars are back in proper alignment, costing NASA close to $500 million for the delay alone. NASA is trying to eke out more time in this summer's launch opportunity, now lasting until at least August 15. The chance to fly to Mars comes up only every 26 months. It is NASA's most ambitious Mars mission yet, totalling around $ 3 billion. Besides seeking signs of past microscopic Martian life, Perseverance will gather rocks and soil for eventual return to Earth. Also read | NASA postpones Mars rover Perseverance launch to July 20 Rocket maker United Launch Alliance needs extra time to deal with a liquid oxygen sensor line that showed questionable readings during a recent practice countdown, officials said Tuesday. China, meanwhile, still is pressing ahead with launches this month of Mars spacecraft. Russia and the European Space Agency had to bow out, delaying their Mars rover until 2022 because of delayed spacecraft testing and travel limitations due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Launch of NASA Mars rover delayed again

Opportunity, a remarkably durable <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/nasa-rover-data-shows-mars-had-the-ingredients-needed-for-life-143114">NASA rover designed to roll</a> along the surface of Mars for three months, has stopped communicating with Earth after 15 years of service, officials said on Wednesday, ending a mission that astounded the US&nbsp;space agency.

Engineers lost contact with the solar-powered vehicle on June 10 during a dust storm that encircled Mars. Since then, NASA officials made numerous attempts to reach the six-wheeled rover, which is about the size of a golf cart.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/martian-dust-storm-silences-nasas-rover-opportunity-144235">Opportunity's equipment may</a> have been compromised by the storm, which struck while the rover was at a site called Perseverance Valley and blotted out sunlight needed by the robot's solar panels, officials said.

The vehicle was built to drive six-tenths of a mile (1 km), but ended up covering 28 miles (45 km) and lasting longer on Mars than any other robot sent to the surface of the Red Planet.

On Tuesday, engineers sent a transmission in a last attempt to revive the rover, but heard nothing back, said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

"It is, therefore, that I am standing here with a sense of deep appreciation and gratitude that I declare the Opportunity mission as complete," Zurbuchen said during an online video presentation at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

As Opportunity explored craters on Mars, it gathered evidence to demonstrate the planet in the ancient past was wet and warm enough to possibly sustain life, NASA said. That included the discovery of white veins of the mineral gypsum, an indication of water moving through underground fractures.

Opportunity landed on Mars in January 2004, a few weeks after its rover twin, Spirit.

Spirit ended its mission in 2010 after becoming stuck in soft soil.

The Opportunity mission cost more than $1 billion, with about 300 JPL staff members dedicated to the project soon after it landed, John Callas, project manager for Mars Exploration Rovers, said by phone.

The team had dwindled to 30 by the time Opportunity went silent, he said. Its members are going to other projects.

Another NASA rover called Curiosity, which arrived on Mars in 2012, continues its work on the Martian surface, collecting soil samples to analyse them for signs of organic compounds.

And NASA's InSight spacecraft, the first robotic lander designed to study the deep interior of a distant world, touched down safely on the surface of Mars in November, with instruments to detect planetary seismic rumblings never measured anywhere but Earth.

InSight and the next Mars rover mission, scheduled for 2020, are both seen as precursors for eventual human exploration of Mars, an objective NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has said might be achieved as early as the mid-2030s. 
&nbsp;

Opportunity, a remarkably durable NASA rover designed to roll along the surface of Mars for three months, has stopped communicating with Earth after 15 years of service, officials said on Wednesday, ending a mission that astounded the US space agency.

Opportunity, a remarkably durable NASA rover designed to roll along the surface of Mars for three months, has stopped communicating with Earth after 15 years of service, officials said on Wednesday, ending a mission that astounded the US space agency. Engineers lost contact with the solar-powered vehicle on June 10 during a dust storm that encircled Mars. Since then, NASA officials made numerous attempts to reach the six-wheeled rover, which is about the size of a golf cart. Opportunity's equipment may have been compromised by the storm, which struck while the rover was at a site called Perseverance Valley and blotted out sunlight needed by the robot's solar panels, officials said. The vehicle was built to drive six-tenths of a mile (1 km), but ended up covering 28 miles (45 km) and lasting longer on Mars than any other robot sent to the surface of the Red Planet. On Tuesday, engineers sent a transmission in a last attempt to revive the rover, but heard nothing back, said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "It is, therefore, that I am standing here with a sense of deep appreciation and gratitude that I declare the Opportunity mission as complete," Zurbuchen said during an online video presentation at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. As Opportunity explored craters on Mars, it gathered evidence to demonstrate the planet in the ancient past was wet and warm enough to possibly sustain life, NASA said. That included the discovery of white veins of the mineral gypsum, an indication of water moving through underground fractures. Opportunity landed on Mars in January 2004, a few weeks after its rover twin, Spirit. Spirit ended its mission in 2010 after becoming stuck in soft soil. The Opportunity mission cost more than $1 billion, with about 300 JPL staff members dedicated to the project soon after it landed, John Callas, project manager for Mars Exploration Rovers, said by phone. The team had dwindled to 30 by the time Opportunity went silent, he said. Its members are going to other projects. Another NASA rover called Curiosity, which arrived on Mars in 2012, continues its work on the Martian surface, collecting soil samples to analyse them for signs of organic compounds. And NASA's InSight spacecraft, the first robotic lander designed to study the deep interior of a distant world, touched down safely on the surface of Mars in November, with instruments to detect planetary seismic rumblings never measured anywhere but Earth. InSight and the next Mars rover mission, scheduled for 2020, are both seen as precursors for eventual human exploration of Mars, an objective NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has said might be achieved as early as the mid-2030s.

Watch: After 15 years service, NASA announces end of Opportunity's Mars mission

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