NASA’s Perseverance rover has made one of its most scientifically rich discoveries yet on Mars, unearthing a dense collection of ancient rocks along the western rim of Jezero Crater that could rewrite our understanding of the Red Planet’s early history. According to a report by Space.com, the layered terrain at a slope known as Witch Hazel Hill is delivering unprecedented geological diversity, prompting scientists to call it a “scientific gold mine.”
In the last four months alone, the rover has collected samples from five distinct rocks, examined seven others, and used its laser system to analyze 83 more—a record pace since Perseverance landed in 2021. These findings offer a direct window into the Noachian period, a time over 3.9 billion years ago when Mars experienced intense meteor bombardment and possibly flowing water.
Crater Rim Reveals Ancient Martian Secrets
The rim of Jezero Crater is proving to be a geological treasure trove. According to NASA, this area holds fragmented, once-molten rocks that may have been blasted up from beneath Mars’ surface during massive impacts—including the very one that formed the crater. These rocks are helping scientists reconstruct the deep crustal history of the planet.
Among the highlights is a sample dubbed “Silver Mountain,” which NASA scientists describe as a “one-of-a-kind treasure” with textures unlike any previously seen on Mars. Believed to date back to the Noachian epoch, this sample may hold some of the oldest geological material accessible to researchers.
“During previous science campaigns in Jezero, it could take several months to find a rock that was significantly different from the last rock we sampled and scientifically unique enough for sampling,” said Katie Morgan, Perseverance’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “But up here on the crater rim, there are new and intriguing rocks everywhere the rover turns. It has been all we had hoped for and more.”
Clues That Point to Past Habitability
Not far from Silver Mountain, Perseverance discovered a serpentine-rich rock, which is significant because such minerals form when water interacts with volcanic rock. This reaction, seen on Earth, can produce hydrogen gas—a potential energy source for microbial life. While it’s far from confirming life, the find adds a new layer of intrigue to Mars’ potentially habitable past.
The rover also collected and successfully sealed a sample called “Green Gardens” from a rock named Tablelands. This particular sample posed an engineering challenge but was successfully processed and stored for potential return to Earth in a future sample return mission.
A Race Against Time for Sample Return
While Perseverance continues its productive science campaign, NASA’s Mars Sample Return (MSR) program—intended to bring these samples to Earth—faces major uncertainty. Originally planned for the 2030s, the project’s estimated cost has ballooned to $11 billion, and its timeline has slipped to 2040 or later. NASA is now seeking new proposals to make the mission more cost-effective and efficient, with a revised strategy expected in mid-2026.
In the meantime, the rover team remains focused on selecting the next most promising sample location. “The last four months have been a whirlwind for the science team, and we still feel that Witch Hazel Hill has more to tell us,” Morgan added.