Tag: mars rover

The “Special Regions” on Mars Where It Is Totally Forbidden to Explore, for a Haunting Reason

Even as momentum builds toward sending humans to Mars in the next decade, several regions on the Red Planet remain off-limits to robotic exploration. The reason has nothing to do with distance or terrain. Instead, it reflects a long-standing international effort to prevent Earth microbes from contaminating potentially habitable zones.

Known as special regions, these areas could offer the best conditions for Mars life detection. No spacecraft, however, is currently authorized to explore them. The restriction stems from planetary protection guidelines that prioritize scientific integrity over operational ambition.

Recent data from NASA’s Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater has intensified the conversation. In 2025, the rover identified organic molecules in rock formations linked to water-rich environments, prompting renewed scrutiny of current exploration limits.

The Legal and Scientific Shield Around Mars’s Special Regions

Special regions are Martian locations where environmental conditions may support microbial life. These include areas with intermittent warmth or subsurface water. The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) sets the criteria: any zone with temperatures above –28°C and water activity above 0.5 is flagged for protection.

The policy draws legal weight from Article IX of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which obligates nations to avoid biological contamination of other worlds. COSPAR’s planetary protection policy functions as the global implementation standard, informing mission protocols for agencies such as NASA, ESA, and CNSA.

Keep reading

CHANCES THAT ODD SOIL SAMPLES COLLECTED AT MARS’ JEZERO CRATER CONTAIN SIGNS OF ANCIENT LIFE JUST INCREASED DRAMATICALLY

A new analysis of subsurface deposit and erosion patterns beneath the dry lakebed in Mars’ Jezero crater indicates the process took place over eons, dramatically improving the chances that soil samples collected at the site by NASA’s Perseverance could contain signs of ancient life.

Although the exact timeline for a joint European Space Agency/NASA mission to retrieve Perseverance’s soil samples has not yet been set, the fact that the lake in Jezero crater had existed across numerous geological phases significantly increases the odds of finding signs of ancient life within those samples.

RESEARCHERS HAVE LONG SUSPECTED DEEP SEDIMENTARY LAYERS LIE BENEATH JEZERO

Over the last few decades, images captured by satellites orbiting Mars have long hinted at the idea of eroded subsurface layers in the region. However, researchers knew that up close analysis by Perseverance’s ground penetrating radar was the only way to confirm those suspicions.

“From orbit, we can see a bunch of different deposits, but we can’t tell for sure if what we’re seeing is their original state or if we’re seeing the conclusion of a long geological story,” said David Paige, a UCLA professor of Earth, planetary and space sciences and first author of the paper detailing the findings. “To tell how these things formed, we need to see below the surface.”

Fortunately, Perseverance’s mission planners included the Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment, or RIMFAX, as one of the seven instruments on board the rover. Like ground penetrating radar used on Earth, the RIFMAX fires radar waves directly into the Mars surface, then reads their reflections as they bounce off different sedimentary layers.

Keep reading