The trace of life is hidden inside that tube. Can the mysterious sample on Mars be brought to Earth?

Perseverance was specifically landed on this dried lake bed in February 2021 because the Neretva Vallis, a valley shaped by rivers that flowed into an ancient lake in the Jezero Crater more than 3 billion years ago, was perfect for searching for rocks that had been formed or altered by water in the past and had the best chance of preserving evidence of life.

The Perseverance science team said the Sapphire Canyon sample (top) was exactly the type of rock they hoped the robotic rover would discover.

This particular piece is currently housed in a tube inside Perseverance's chassis, along with 33 other samples.

The real problem is how to bring all these samples back to Earth so they can be studied in detail.

In the news published by Ashley Strickland on CNN, Adrian Broz from the Perserverance team said, "I think it's the first time we've found something that can be described as a 'potential biological trace' on Mars." It is stated that the plans to bring back this sample, which he describes as "", have been shelved for now.

It was stated in the news that this sample may never reach our planet, at least not in the near future, and it was reminded that the "Mars Sample Return" program, a joint initiative of NASA and the European Space Agency to bring back samples collected from Mars, has been subjected to intense criticism due to its high cost and complex design. It was emphasized that after investing billions of dollars, NASA re-evaluated the program in 2024 and eventually canceled it completely. Currently, there does not appear to be a clear alternative to this program.

In a statement made in July, NASA said, "Perseverance's samples are safely stored on Mars. NASA is exploring a number of potential return options, including possible commercial or international contributions, that could offer simpler and more affordable approaches than the original Mars Sample Return plan." He used the following expressions.

NASA officials have not yet announced a forward-looking road map on this issue.

Perseverance, which cost approximately 2.4 billion dollars to build and launch, is not equipped to perform analyzes on this sample to show whether there are signs of life on the Red Planet.

Again, one of the Perseverance team members, Dr. “We can continue to do these studies and get clues, but until we get these samples back we will never know for sure,” Briony Horgan said. He states that these samples are the best chance to understand whether there is life outside the Earth or whether the Earth is truly unique.