The discovery of an unusual rock sample, named Sapphire Canyon, by NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance in 2024 has sent shockwaves of excitement through the scientific community. This enigmatic rock features striking white spots with black borders within a red mudstone, sparking hopes that it might hold clues about the presence of organic molecules on Mars.

To unlock the secrets hidden within Sapphire Canyon, researchers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology employed an innovative technique called optical photothermal infrared spectroscopy (O-PTIR). This method uses two lasers to study a material’s chemical properties, creating its unique fingerprint by measuring thermal vibrations on its surface.

The team, led by Nicholas Heinz, put O-PTIR to the test on a basalt rock with dark inclusions of similar size to Sapphire Canyon’s. By chance, Heinz stumbled upon this visually similar rock while hiking in Arizona’s Sedona region. The results were astounding – O-PTIR proved to be an extremely effective tool for differentiating between the primary material and its dark inclusions.

One of the key advantages of O-PTIR is its enhanced spatial resolution, allowing scientists to pinpoint specific regions of interest within a sample. Additionally, this technique is remarkably rapid, with each spectrum collection taking mere minutes. This enables researchers to apply more sensitive techniques to study areas containing potential organics in greater detail.

Heinz expressed his hope that the capabilities of O-PTIR will be considered for future Martian samples, as well as those from asteroids and other planetary surfaces. The team’s expertise is currently the only one available at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, having previously assisted with confirming the cleanliness of the Europa Clipper mission prior to its launch.

As the scientific community continues to unravel the mysteries hidden within Sapphire Canyon, Heinz and his team are working closely with NASA’s Mars science team to test O-PTIR on algal microfossils typically used as Mars analogs for the rovers. This breakthrough technique is poised to revolutionize our understanding of Martian geology and potentially uncover signs of ancient life on the Red Planet.

The NASA Europa Clipper mission has achieved a significant milestone by successfully testing its Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON) instrument during a flyby of Mars in March. The test, which was impossible to conduct on Earth due to the scale and complexity of the radar system, aimed to determine the radar’s readiness for the mission at Jupiter’s moon Europa.

The REASON instrument, which will “see” into Europa’s icy shell, may have pockets of water inside, uses two pairs of slender antennas that jut out from the solar arrays, spanning a distance of about 58 feet (17.6 meters). This unusual radar setup for an interplanetary spacecraft was designed to catch as much light as possible at Europa, which receives only about 1/25th the sunlight as Earth.

During the Mars flyby, REASON sent and received radio waves for about 40 minutes, collecting a wealth of data that will help scientists understand how the ice may capture materials from the ocean and transfer them to the surface of the moon. The instrument’s performance was deemed successful, with engineers able to collect 60 gigabytes of rich data.

The Europa Clipper mission’s primary goal is to determine the thickness of the ice shell on Europa and its interactions with the ocean below. The REASON radar will play a crucial role in achieving this objective, providing scientists with valuable insights into the moon’s composition and geology. With the success of the REASON test, the mission is now one step closer to unlocking the secrets of Jupiter’s icy moon and potentially discovering habitable worlds beyond our planet.

The Europa Clipper spacecraft is currently on its journey to reach Europa, which will take approximately 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) and include a gravity assist using Earth in 2026. The mission is managed by Caltech, led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and includes partners such as the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

As scientists continue to analyze the data from the REASON test, they are exercising their skills and preparing for the detailed exploration of Europa that will take place in the future. The mission has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the solar system and provide new insights into the astrobiological potential of habitable worlds beyond Earth.

As scientists continue to explore the vast expanse of our solar system, a new study has shed light on a long-held assumption about the conditions necessary for life to thrive. Researchers at NYU Abu Dhabi have made a groundbreaking discovery that challenges the traditional view that life can only exist near sunlight or volcanic heat. Their findings suggest that high-energy particles from space, known as cosmic rays, could create the energy needed to support microscopic life underground on planets and moons in our solar system.

The research, led by Principal Investigator Dimitra Atri, focused on what happens when cosmic rays hit water or ice underground. The impact breaks water molecules apart and releases tiny particles called electrons. Some bacteria on Earth can use these electrons for energy, similar to how plants use sunlight. This process is called radiolysis, and it can power life even in dark, cold environments with no sunlight.

Using computer simulations, the researchers studied how much energy this process could produce on Mars and on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. These moons, which are covered in thick layers of ice, are believed to have water hidden below their surfaces. The study found that Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus had the most potential to support life in this way, followed by Mars, and then Jupiter’s moon Europa.

“This discovery changes the way we think about where life might exist,” said Atri. “Instead of looking only for warm planets with sunlight, we can now consider places that are cold and dark, as long as they have some water beneath the surface and are exposed to cosmic rays. Life might be able to survive in more places than we ever imagined.”

The study introduces a new idea called the Radiolytic Habitable Zone. Unlike the traditional “Goldilocks Zone” — the area around a star where a planet could have liquid water on its surface — this new zone focuses on places where water exists underground and can be energized by cosmic radiation. Since cosmic rays are found throughout space, this could mean there are many more places in the universe where life could exist.

The findings provide new guidance for future space missions. Instead of only looking for signs of life on the surface, scientists might also explore underground environments on Mars and the icy moons, using tools that can detect chemical energy created by cosmic radiation.

This research opens up exciting new possibilities in the search for life beyond Earth and suggests that even the darkest, coldest places in the solar system could have the right conditions for life to survive. As we continue to explore the mysteries of our universe, it’s clear that there’s still much to learn, and this discovery is a thrilling reminder of the incredible potential that lies just beneath the surface.