Mars Perseverance rover investigates ‘garden pavers’ in ancient lakebed – CNET [CNET]

NASA’s Perseverance rover is on a road trip across Mars, and that means stopping for some sightseeing. On Wednesday, NASA shared snaps from a roadside attraction that’s caught the rover team’s attention.

The object of interest is a patch of rock left over from when Jezero Crater was a lake, in the far distant past when Mars was more watery than it is today.

“Check out this patch of rock I found: looks kind of like garden pavers, and is probably exposed bedrock,” NASA tweeted along with a GIF of the rover checking the spot out. “Material like this, from the early days of this ancient lakebed, can help capture what that lake was like.”

Check out this patch of rock I found: looks kind of like garden pavers, and is probably exposed bedrock. Material like this, from the early days of this ancient lakebed, can help capture what that lake was like. Spending a few days investigating…https://t.co/p9A2vJFjIV pic.twitter.com/0bc8lPiQLS

— NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) July 14, 2021

Perseverance is logging a few days at the site to get a closer look. The rover has a lot of science ahead, but one of its main missions is to seek out evidence of ancient microbial life on the red planet. A former lake is a perfect place to investigate Mars’ past habitability. 

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