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> Perseverance's soil and rock samples will be brought back to Earth by a future expedition and studied for evidence of past life. Can someone explain to me wh
by Reubend 3y ago
> Perseverance's soil and rock samples will be brought back to Earth by a future expedition and studied for evidence of past life.
Can someone explain to me why we need to bring the samples back to Earth to analyze them? What "signs of life" are we looking for that the rover itself couldn't report?
- tocs3 3y agoWithout being an expert, I would say that samples on Earth would let us (or at least those who look at the samples) look in ways the rover was not designed to look. There is a lot of analytic equipment that is here on Earth but not on Mars. Also, there are things to study besides past life. Geology, material science, horticultural implications, and other things are all worth study The "past life on Mars" maybe interesting but it is also an easy selling point.