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Perseverance Mastcam-Z view of the Cheyava Falls workspace on Mars
Cheyava Falls, 10 of 10 in LifeIdea 1 of 3: A Rock That Stopped a Rover in Its Tracks
Life 004—010

Cheyava Falls

2024 CE

From the archiveLife10 artifacts
From the record · 01 / 03

A Rock That Stopped a Rover in Its Tracks

Perseverance had drilled twenty-three samples before reaching the north rim of Jezero Crater. Cheyava Falls was different. The rover's SHERLOC instrument detected organic molecules inside veins of calcium sulfate, and PIXL found millimetre-scale spots rich in iron and phosphate — a chemical pattern seen in microbial fossils on Earth. The mission team paused the traverse to study the target in detail.

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Perseverance had drilled twenty-three samples before reaching the north rim of Jezero Crater. Cheyava Falls was different. The rover's SHERLOC instrument detected organic molecules inside veins of calcium sulfate, and PIXL found millimetre-scale spots rich in iron and phosphate — a chemical pattern seen in microbial fossils on Earth. The mission team paused the traverse to study the target in detail.