The Perseverance Mars rover has discovered patterns of minerals that could be a biosignature – something that indicates life may have existed there now or in the past.

The minerals were located on an ancient river valley, carved by water rushing down it. The area on Mars is called Cheyava Falls.

The Queen has passed and our thoughts go out to the Royal Family and all those mourning her loss.

Her Majesty has been the head of the United Kingdom longer than the space age, becoming Queen seven years before the first satellite “Sputnik” was launched in 1959.

The Perseverance Rover carries a device called MOXIE which can generate oxygen. Since the rover’s touchdown on Mars this device has been periodically generating oxygen in many different conditions on Mars.

This is exciting news when it comes to putting people on Mars. This means the oxygen they need could be generated at their landing point before they’ve even left. They’ll need oxygen to breath, but it’s also essential for fuelling any rocket that would get them back to Earth.