{O/C} NASA has made one monumental leap closer to answering that tantalizing question: Is there life on Mars?
{RVO}
NASA's Perseverance rover has been scouring Mars for roughly 18 months.
It's yielded a treasure trove of rock samples from "Wildcast Ridge", a rock replacing an evaporating saltwater lake, that suggest there might have been ancient microbial life on Mars.
But it may only be until 2033 that the samples are finally returned to earth.
Still, these magnificent discoveries have scientists salivating with excitement, as the world nudges one step closer to bringing humans to Mars.
{Soundbite}
SUNANDA SHARMA, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Scientist:
It feels like we're in the right place, with the right tools at a very pivotal moment. And that Mars sample return stands maybe the best chance ever of answering a very profound question: Are we along in the universe?
{Soundbite}
LAURIE LESHIN, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director:
I hope it happens in the next couple of decades, but we need the well as a nation and as a planet to make that happen, and I think we're getting close.
Comentários